Brussels is ready to work “24/7″ this week to get an agreement between the EU27 and the UK government over its Brexit divorce talks as negotiations are set to go to the wire ahead of a key leaders’ summit next week.
A spokesman for Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, said on Thursday there was still “no white smoke” in the talks which have stumbled as Theresa May tries to find a suitable border arrangement to satisfy the Democratic Unionist party in Northern Ireland.
Brussels said it was “ready” to receive the PM and her team in Brussels “at any moment in time when they’re ready”.
“We work for a full week, 24/7 and our week includes Sunday,” said the spokesman who referred to midnight on Sunday as the deadline for a deal to be reached and then signed off by member states ahead of a key leaders’ summit in Brussels next Friday.
“Every day lost makes this more difficult”, said the spokesman who insisted the Sunday deadline was not an “open” one. “Sherpas” – or government emissaries from the EU27 – are due to meet on Monday to make their final preparations for the summit.
Article from the ‘Financial Times’
