Brexit talks show signs of progress ahead of EU summit

The U.K. and EU inched ever closer to a Brexit deal, with the leaders of France and Germany suggesting an agreement could be sealed at Thursday's EU summit.

Positive vibes radiated from French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a joint news conference Wednesday in Toulouse, France, where Merkel said negotiations were "in the final stretch."

Macron added that "I want to believe that a deal is being finalized and that we can approve it" Thursday, when EU leaders are due to meet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Brussels.

Differences between the two sides remained but were narrowing to some technical and complicated customs and value-added tax issues, officials said. Negotiating teams were working into the night at EU headquarters in Brussels to solve them.

"Good progress, and work is ongoing," EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters Wednesday evening.

Johnson, meanwhile, likened Brexit to climbing Mount Everest, saying the summit was in sight, though still shrouded in cloud.

The EU Parliament's chief Brexit official, Guy Verhofstadt, said Johnson had already moved mountains over the past days, seeking compromise where once he had been unbending.

"Before, the proposals of Mr. Johnson were absolutely unacceptable," Verhofstadt said. "There has been a fundamental shift, that is clear."

Brexit negotiations have been here before — seemingly closing in on a deal that is dashed at the last moment. But with Britain's Oct. 31 departure date looming and just hours to go before the EU leaders' summit, hopes were increasingly turning toward getting a broad political commitment, with the full legal details to be hammered out later. That could mean another EU summit on Brexit before the end of the month.

Brexit Minister Steve Barclay said the U.K. had submitted a draft text of the political declaration — one part of the Brexit deal with the EU.

He added that Johnson would meet the undertakings given to a Scottish court earlier this month, when the government's top legal officer in Scotland gave assurances the government would fully comply with a law which requires Johnson to request a delay to Brexit if no deal is reached by Oct. 19.

Barclay reiterated Wednesday that he would not consider accepting a delay to the U.K.'s EU exit beyond Oct. 31, even if it was only used to tie up the necessary legal requirements of an agreement.

"I think it is important that we leave on the 31st of October," Barclay told a parliamentary committee.

'The clock is ticking'

Talks between the EU and Britain to seal a divorce deal this week had hit a "standstill," according to officials in the bloc.

Disagreements centred on a future trade deal and the rejection by Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party of customs solutions tentatively agreed by negotiators for the Irish border.

However, officials involved in the complex divorce between the world's fifth-largest economy and its biggest trading bloc said differences over the terms of the split from the 27 other member states had narrowed significantly.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire remained optimistic, telling Europe 1 radio on Wednesday that there is a "glimmer of hope" that a Brexit deal can be reached before Britain's scheduled departure at the end of October.

But if an agreement is not ready for the Brussels summit, Johnson will almost certainly have to postpone Britain's exit again — for what would be the third time since the country voted in a referendum in June 2016 to quit the EU.

"The clock is ticking," said an EU official with knowledge of Tuesday's negotiations, which went into the night and ended at 1:30 a.m., about 16 hours after they had begun.

The main sticking point in talks has been the border between EU member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland.

The question is how to prevent the border becoming a backdoor into the EU's single market without erecting controls which could undermine the 1998 peace agreement that ended decades of conflict in the province.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday there are still issues to be resolved in negotiations. 

He said he had spoken to Johnson earlier in the day.

"I do think we are making progress but there are issues yet to be resolved and hopefully that can be done today," Varadkar said.

"But if it's not, there is still more time. Oct. 31 is still a few weeks away and there is the possibility of an additional summit before that if we need one... Although time is running short, I am confident that [Ireland's] objectives can be met."

An EU official said "one of the major outstanding issues" was agreeing on Britain's application of common bloc rules and standards designed to ensure fair competition.

A second EU official said late on Tuesday that an agreement was "close but not 100 per cent certain."