Britain has all but given up on a special Brexit summit at the end of November as there remain too many sticking points to complete the talks in the time originally hoped for.
UK and EU negotiators were talking until 2.45am on Monday night, Downing Street said, but sources downplayed the prospect of any immediate breakthrough as the impasse on the Irish border backstop continues.
Negotiations will continue intensively this week, but unless there is dramatic progress by the end of Wednesday, there can be no European summit to sign off a draft deal this month. “There’s no breakthrough at the moment,” a Whitehall source said.
The absence of a breakthrough means Tuesday’s scheduled cabinet meeting will not be the substantive discussion intended to sign off the UK’s Brexit negotiating position as had been expected. It will note developments and discuss no-deal planning instead.
A Brexit deal could be signed off at the European Union’s scheduled summit in December, on the 13 and 14, which would leave little time to squeeze in a parliamentary vote to ratify the agreement before Christmas.
A few minutes earlier, Michel Barnier, said a breakthrough had not been achieved in the latest intensive negotiations with the British over the weekend.
During a short meeting in Brussels, Barnier told European affairs ministers for the 27 EU members that the negotiators had so far failed to the make the decisive progress needed on the Irish border issue.
“Barnier explained that intense negotiating efforts continue, but an agreement has not been reached yet,” a statement said.
UK sources had spoken last week of a hope that Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, could make a visit to Brussels on Tuesday to unveil a deal and prepare the way for a Brexit summit. But Number 10 said on Monday morning that there were no plans for him to travel to Brussels for the moment.
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