The comments came hours after the EU's chief negotiator on Brexit talks, Michel Barnier , unveiled a common bloc strategy agreed to on Saturday at an European Union summit for negotiations that he said would be neither quick nor painless. Juncker was speaking as the European Union prepares for negotiations on the terms for the U.K's withdrawal from the bloc, to commence after the British general election on June 8. "It is better to have an interlocutor who is not constantly looking for votes because they have had the election, in order to work towards a good solution."