Brexit Deal ‘very close’ – EU diplomat

The European Union’s Brexit negotiators believe a divorce deal with Britain is “very close”, diplomatic sources said, in a sign a compromise on the most contentious issue – the future Irish border – might be in the making though details were scarce.

Reuters reports that  the EU signalled on Thursday it was engaging with new proposals emerging in Britain on how to avoid extensive border checks between Britain’s province of Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland after Brexit, the critical potential deal-breaker in the talks to end four decades of union.

A member of EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier’s team told a briefing with national diplomats in Brussels late on Thursday that a divorce pact with Britain was “very close”, according to two sources present.

“We are going in the right direction,” a senior EU diplomat said separately of the work on the Irish fix. 

On Friday evening, EU Brexit negotiators told ambassadors of the 27 states remaining in the bloc that there was still no breakthrough on the Irish issue and much would depend on what their British counterparts bring to Brussels next week.