Britain seeks "special" EU ties as Brexit talks start

Britain's negotiators came to Brussels seeking a "new, deep and special partnership with the European Union" on Monday as talks on the unprecedented British withdrawal from the European Union finally got under way.

A beaming Brexit Secretary David Davis, a veteran campaigner against EU membership, told a sombre Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, that his team aimed to maintain a "positive and constructive tone" during "challenging" talks ahead in the hope of reaching a deal that was in the interests of both sides.

A year after Britons shocked the continent by voting on June 23 to cut loose from their main export market, debate within Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet on precisely what kind of trading relationship to pursue has perplexed EU leaders, who warn time is tight to agree terms before Britain leaves in 2019.

"We must first tackle the uncertainties caused by Brexit," said Barnier, a former French minister, as he greeted Davis at the European Commission's Berlaymont Building headquarters.

Those were, he said, the rights of expatriate citizens and problems of a new EU-UK border, notably cutting across Ireland. He did not mention a third EU priority -- that Britain settle a bill of tens of billions of euros before it leaves in 21 months.

That financial issue is already a bone of contention, as is Brussels' refusal to discuss a new free trade deal until after it is resolved. May, whose future is uncertain after she lost her Conservative majority in an election this month, has insisted that trade talks start immediately and run in parallel.