UK and EU politicians have given very different accounts of how the UK's Brexit negotiations should proceed.
The EU's Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmstrom, says the UK cannot begin negotiating trade terms with the bloc until after it has left.
"First, you exit then you negotiate," she told BBC Newsnight.
But one of the candidates to be next UK PM, Liam Fox, called that stance "bizarre and stupid", saying the Brexit talks would include trade.
The BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels says Ms Malmstrom's view of two consecutive sets of negotiations appears technically correct.
But other Commission sources said the two could take place in parallel.
'Divorce' proceedings
At the EU summit this week the 27 government leaders - without the UK - agreed Brexit "divorce" talks should begin and end before any talks on a new settlement for the UK, Chris Morris says.
Brussels sources told our correspondent there was a real determination among the leaders not to mix the two.
The statement from the 27 said they wanted the UK to be "a close partner of the EU". But they also spoke of an agreement to be "concluded with the UK as a third country".
The phrase "third country" means the UK post-Brexit.
Outside the EU, the UK would trade with the bloc under World Trade Organization rules, pending a possible new deal on free trade.
WTO conditions would mean trade tariffs and non-tariff barriers as the UK would no longer be in the EU single market.
The EU's Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmstrom, says the UK cannot begin negotiating trade terms with the bloc until after it has left.
"First, you exit then you negotiate," she told BBC Newsnight.
But one of the candidates to be next UK PM, Liam Fox, called that stance "bizarre and stupid", saying the Brexit talks would include trade.
The BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels says Ms Malmstrom's view of two consecutive sets of negotiations appears technically correct.
But other Commission sources said the two could take place in parallel.
'Divorce' proceedings
At the EU summit this week the 27 government leaders - without the UK - agreed Brexit "divorce" talks should begin and end before any talks on a new settlement for the UK, Chris Morris says.
Brussels sources told our correspondent there was a real determination among the leaders not to mix the two.
The statement from the 27 said they wanted the UK to be "a close partner of the EU". But they also spoke of an agreement to be "concluded with the UK as a third country".
The phrase "third country" means the UK post-Brexit.
Outside the EU, the UK would trade with the bloc under World Trade Organization rules, pending a possible new deal on free trade.
WTO conditions would mean trade tariffs and non-tariff barriers as the UK would no longer be in the EU single market.
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