That’s we are hoping for.”

Brexit phrasebook: a guide to the talks' key terms Read more

Johnson, who has previously described the estimated bills emerging from Brussels as “absurd”, said: “I think the whole thing, the whole process, will lead to a happy resolution that I think can be done with profit and with honour for both side and that’s what we’re aiming for.”

Guy Verhofstadt, the European parliament’s coordinator on Brexit, welcomed the British decision not to contest the EU’s negotiating timetable, after Davis retreated from his earlier declaration that it would be “the row of the summer”. “At this moment the European Commission is not only prepared for these negotiations but also is doing some contingency planning for what to do if the entire negotiations collapse.” Brexit Secretary David Davis said he fully intends to emerge from the talks with a “deal like no other in history”.
Brexit negotiations begin in Brussels.