European Council President Donald Tusk has said the EU and the United Kingdom will likely reach a Brexit deal before the end of this year.
“I have a hope, which is close to certainty, that at the end we’ll manage to achieve an exit deal and a declaration about future relations which will be the best possible,” he said.
Donald Tusk came with the statement on Saturday while speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Krakow of Poland, report Reuters, Politico.
“We will try for it in October ... and I think there is a chance to have an accord by the end of the year,” he added.
With a Brexit summit scheduled for October 17-18, Tusk said he expected the two sides to move toward “if not finalise” an agreement this month.
“If need be I will call in November a Council session devoted just to this topic and I think that before the end of the year there is a chance to reach such an agreement,” he said.
The Council president also said the Brexit deal would seek to ensure “losses on both sides will be limited.”
Addressing criticism he has sought to punish the UK through Brexit talks, Tusk said: “I’m probably one of the most pro-British politicians in the EU and we will do everything for it to be made in an organized way in order to avoid chaos.”
He conceded however there is little chance Brexit could be abandoned.
“For many months after the referendum in Great Britain I believed that it was possible to reverse this decision. Of course, it is not my role, it is in hands of the British people but it seems that the decision is irreversible now,” Tusk said.
