Jean-Claude Juncker urged Britain to trigger the divorce as soon as possible. (File Photo)
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has set up a special task force to carry out negotiations with Britain on its exit from the European Union, a statement said on Wednesday.
"This new task force will be composed of the Commission's best and brightest," Juncker said, adding that he had appointed a German deputy to the commission's French chief negotiator Michel Barnier.
"Together, Michel and his team will live up to this new challenge and help us to develop a new partnership with the United Kingdom after it will have left the European Union," Juncker said.
Barnier said on Twitter that "we are now finalising this UK negotiation team to be ready to start working on 1 October."
His new deputy, Sabine Weyand, is a senior Commission trade official.
The creation of the task force comes despite the fact that Britain has said it will not trigger the formal two-year negotiation period leading to a divorce from the EU until 2017 at the earliest.
The European Parliament has also appointed a separate Brexit negotiator, former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said Britain needs more time to work out its negotiating position following the shock June 23 Brexit vote, while Brussels has refused to hold any talks until London formally notifies it of Britain's intention to leave.
In his annual State of the Union speech earlier on Wednesday, Juncker urged Britain to trigger the divorce as soon as possible, while insisting that the rest of the EU is "not at risk" from Brexit.
He called for EU-British ties to "remain on a friendly basis" but warned London could not expect "a la carte" access to the EU's single market if it brings back immigration controls.