"We adopted the organizational structure with the European Council maintaining political control over the process and the [European] Commission as the Union’s negotiator," Tusk said on Thursday after an EU summit.
In June, the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. Soon after the referendum, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that the country would trigger the Article 50 of the EU Lisbon Treaty by the end of March 2017, thus beginning withdrawal negotiations.
Tusk said on Thursday that the European Commission will lead the negotiations.
"Our intention from the very beginning was to have the best possible cooperation between institutions … it’s much easier to establish this kind of cooperation between the European Council and the Commission. From the very beginning it was absolutely clear to me that the Commission must be the leader in the negotiations process, but we have also discussed the role of the European Parliament," Tusk said, adding "our role is to cooperate in every aspect when it comes to Brexit."
In a statement adopted after the Thursday summit EU leaders said that the United Kingdom has expressed willingness to trigger Article 50 before March 2017.
"We, the Heads of State or Government of 27 Member States, as well as the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, determined to see the Union succeed, stand ready to start negotiations with the UK as soon as the UK has notified under article 50. We welcome the intention of the UK to do so before the end of March 2017, so that we can begin to tackle the uncertainties arising from the prospect of the UK's withdrawal," the EU leaders said.
On Wednesday, UK Secretary of State for the Department for Exiting the European Union David Davis said that the British government was not going to release its detailed Brexit plan before February 2017.
