Britain fleshes out #Brexit stance on nuclear and justice

Britain fleshed out its Brexit negotiating stance on nuclear, justice and other matters on Thursday before the first full round of talks with the EU next week, underlining it would quit nuclear body Euratom and the jurisdiction of European courts, writes Elizabeth Piper.

In three position papers, Britain said it wanted the transition to being outside the European Union to be as smooth as possible and foresaw a transitional period to help ease the winding up of the bloc's operations in Britain.

"The scope and duration of such a transitional period may be different for different types of asset or agency," the British government said in a paper on 'Privileges and immunities'.

In a separate paper, it also said Britain had been advised by the European Union that it had to leave Euratom because the treaties governing it and the EU were "uniquely legally joined".

"It is clear that the UK and the Euratom Community have a strong mutual interest in ensuring close co-operation in the future, to harness shared expertise and maximize shared interests," said the paper on 'Nuclear materials and safeguards issues'.