Brussels 20 Jun (ANA) - The EU's chief negotiator said there would be "substantial" consequences from Brexit after the first round of talks with the UK. Michel Barnier said he was "not in the frame of mind to make concessions or ask for concessions". UK Brexit Secretary David Davis said talks got off to a "promising start". The UK appears to have conceded to the EU's preferred order for the talks which will mean trade negotiations do not begin immediately. Mr Davis and Mr Barnier gave a joint press conference after day one of the talks in Brussels. The initial focus will be on expat rights, a financial settlement and "other separation issues". Discussions aimed at preserving the Good Friday Agreement and common travel area in Ireland will also begin, although Mr Davis suggested these issues may not be settled until the end of the process, when the UK's trade relationship with the EU is settled. The UK had wanted talks on its future relationship with the EU to be considered from the outset, but Mr Barnier said this would only happen once the European Council decided "sufficient progress has been made" on the other issues. Mr Davis - who had predicted this would be the "row of the summer" - denied suggestions the agreed timetable showed Britain's "weakness" and insisted it was "completely consistent" with the government's aim of parallel trade and exit talks. "It's not when it starts it's how it finishes that matters," he said.(ANA)

FA/ANA/20 June 2017-------