Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney and European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier attend an EU's General Affairs Council in Brussels, Belgium
Ireland's foreign minister said on Friday reaction from EU capitals to British Prime minister Theresa May's Brexit white paper was lukewarm but said there was agreement it formed the basis for negotiations.
"There has been a response that has been lukewarm to the British white paper coming from Brussels but also other member states. They are anxious to get the British negotiating team into serious and detailed negotiation," Simon Coveney told Ireland's RTE radio following a meeting with chief Brexit negotiator cand EU foreign ministers.
British Prime Minister Theresa May called on the European Union to evolve its position in response to her new plan which has outlined a blueprint for the UK's post-Brexit relationship with the bloc."It is now for the EU to respond, not simply to fall back on previous positions which have already been proven unworkable but to evolve their position in kind," May said in a speech in Belfast on Friday.UK to warn public every week over 'no-deal Brexit'May says her chief whip made honest mistakeBritish Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday that her chief enforcer in parliament had made an honest mistake by breaking a so called pairing agreement at a crucial vote and that he and the party's chairman had apologised.Julian Smith, known as the government's chief whip, told some Conservative lawmakers to break a pairing arrangement with rival parties that ensures genuine absences do not skew votes in parliament.Conservative Chairman Brandon Lewis followed the advice and voted with the government at a key Brexit vote on Tuesday even though his "pair", Liberal Democrat lawmaker Jo Swinson, was away as she had just given birth.When asked by a reporter if she could be trusted, May said: "There was an honest mistake made for which the chief whip and indeed Brandon Lewis have both apologised to the member concerned." 
British PM calls on EU to evolve its position on Brexit