EU draft guidelines say British exit talks come first

President of the European Council Donald Tusk, right, is greeted by the Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat ahead of their joint press conference on the EU guidelines for Brexit talks, outside the Premier's office Castille, in Valletta, Malta, Friday, March 31, 2017. The guidelines that Tusk is putting to EU members make it clear that withdrawal from the bloc comes ahead of any new relationship with Britain even though the rough outlines such a relationship may partially overlap. (AP Photo/Rene Rossignaud) (The Associated Press)

President of the European Council Donald Tusk attends a joint press conference in Valletta, Malta, Friday, March 31, 2017. Tusk insisted Friday after a meeting in Malta that withdrawal from the bloc comes ahead of any new relationship with Britain. But he also said the EU will not punish the U.K. in the exit talks, and that the so-called Brexit is punitive enough. (AP Photo/Rene Rossignaud) (The Associated Press)

A copy of draft guidelines from the EU on the subject of Britain's invoking of Article 50 which were obtained by the Associated Press Friday March 31, 2017. The European Union softened its line on Britain's exit from the bloc Friday, with Council President Donald Tusk signaling some flexibility on allowing talks on a new relationship before the divorce proceedings are complete. (AP Photo/Sam Wells) (The Associated Press)

The guidelines that European Union Council President Donald Tusk is putting to EU members make it clear that withdrawal from the bloc comes ahead of any new relationship with Britain even though the rough outlines such a relationship may partially overlap.

In the draft guidelines obtained by the Associated Press, it says that first the EU and Britain must "settle the disentaglement" of Britain from the EU but added that "an overall understanding on the framework for the future relationship could be identified during the second phase of the negotiations under Article 50."

The guidelines also say the issue of citizens living in each other's countries is a priority, and call for "flexible and imaginative solutions" for the issue of the U.K.'s land border with Ireland.