The head of trade for the European Union says that the U.K. will not be entitled to negotiate its place at Europe’s economic table until it makes good on its apparent commitment to leave the E.U. “First you exit, then you negotiate,” Cecilia Malmstrom, the Swedish official who serves as the European Commissioner for Trade, told the BBC. Malmstrom’s words reveal a harsh reality for the U.K., which will need up to two years to fully abandon its E.U.