The European Commission on Wednesday sent its recommendations to the Council of the European Union (EU) to open the Brexit negotiations with London, putting EU citizens' rights and status on center stage.
The move came on the heels of an EU summit on Saturday, when 27 remaining members of the EU unanimously adopted the two-phase guidelines for Brexit talks.
The Commission's recommendations, in line with the guidelines, included draft negotiating directives covering four main areas and provided necessary details to conduct the first phase of the negotiations.
Safeguarding the status and rights of 3.2 million EU citizens living in Britain and 1.2 million British citizens living in the 27 European Union countries is the first priority of the negotiations, the Commission stressed in the recommendations.
The recommendation also underscored that agreement on the principles of the financial settlement must be reached before it is possible to move on to the second phase of the negotiations.
But Michel Barnier, the EU's Brexit negotiator, in a press conference, dismissed the term "Brexit bill", saying, "there is no punishment, there is no Brexit bill. The financial settlement is only about settling the accords."
He also balked at giving a definite figure Britain needs to pay. "I don't wish to give any figure today, I can't because I don't know what the figures are," he said, adding "since you are all competent and well-informed journalist, I am sure that you can undertake your own calculations while looking at the commitments entered in the past."
On the touchy Ireland border issue, the Commission in its recommendations pledged that the negotiations "should not undermine in any way the Good Friday Agreement," and "solutions should be found to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland."
The Commission also kept an eye on finding arrangements regarding dispute settlement and the governance of the withdrawal agreement. "With our recommendation today, we are on track to make sure that the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union happens in an orderly fashion,"said Michel Barnier. "This is in the best interests of everyone. As soon as the UK is ready, we shall start negotiating in a constructive manner," he added.
The EU's General Affairs Council is set to adopt the recommendations on May 22, legally authorizing the opening of the Brexit negotiations, which is believed to kick off after Britain's snap election on June 8.
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