(Recasts, adds quotes, context)
By William James
LONDON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Britain will make public itsguidelines for talks on leaving the European Union by the timeit triggers the exit process, Brexit minister David Davis saidon Monday, in the first indication of when Britons will find outwhat the government hopes to achieve in the talks.
Prime Minister Theresa May's government has warned it willreveal little about its strategy on key issues like immigrationand trade as it prepares to negotiate Britain's exit from the EUfollowing the shock June 23 referendum vote to leave.
But Davis, head of the newly created Department for Exitingthe European Union, said the negotiating process itself wouldnot be a "black box" and that details would begin to emerge oncethe legal exit procedure, known as 'Article 50' began.
"It will start, I guess, at the point of triggering Article50. We will at that point have a some clear public negotiatingguidelines," David told a committee of lawmakers investigatingthe role of parliament in the Brexit process.
The government has been pressed for detailed answers on howit intends to enact the decision to quit the bloc by everyonefrom business leaders to foreign allies.
So far, it has revealed little.
"Before Article 50 is triggered there will be a ratherfrustrating time, because we won't be saying an awful lot,"Davis said. He said giving a running commentary on the talkswould undermine Britain's negotiating stance.
Separately, finance minister Philip Hammond sought toaddress the concerns of businesses about Brexit, meeting withlarge exporters like Honda, Airbus andGlaxoSmithKline to tell them that trade with EU memberstates would be a priority in the exit talks.
FAST AND RESPONSIVE
Once the exit process has been started, Britain has aninitial two-year period to negotiate its departure. Davis saidthis time frame was possible, but would require the governmentto be "nimble, fast and responsive." The talks can be extendedif both parties agree.
Davis said parliament would be called upon to pass new lawsto enact the exit from the bloc. The government has previouslystated parliament did not need to approve the decision totrigger an exit.
He said the negotiating strategy would be drawn up byassessing feedback from other government departments which havebeen asked to consult with relevant parties on the opportunitiesbrought about by leaving, the risks of leaving, and bestpolicies to mitigate those risks.
"At that point, which is not yet, we will be doing somequite quantitative assessment of what we think the advantagesand disadvantages are," he said. "We need to take an empiricalapproach. The purpose of this is not to damage the nationalinterest or damage economic interest, it's just the reverse." (Additional reporting by Estelle Shirbon and Elizabeth Piper;Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)
