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Grind, Grind, Grind: Brexit Talks Soldier on, Summit Looms

Associated Press

   BRUSSELS - The European Union and Britain saw their chances of reaching
   a full Brexit divorce deal by Thursday's EU summit diminish by the hour
   Wednesday as legal issues centering on the Irish border frustrated
   negotiators.

   Hopes were increasingly turning toward getting a broad political
   commitment to a Brexit deal between British Prime Minister Boris
   Johnson and the 27 other EU leaders at this week's summit, with the
   legal details hammered out later.
   That could mean yet another delay to Britain's departure, currently due
   to take place on Oct. 31. It also raises the prospect that the EU need
   to hold another Brexit summit before the end of the month.
   "The 31st of October is still a few weeks away and there is a
   possibility of another summit before that if we need one," Irish Prime
   Minister Leo Varadkar said in Dublin.
   The British government, meanwhile, insisted the U.K. would still leave
   the EU on Oct. 31-- but also promised to obey Parliament's order that
   it must seek a delay to Britain's Brexit departure date if no deal is
   in place by Saturday.
   "I can confirm, as the prime minister has repeatedly set out, that ...
   the government will comply with the law," Brexit Secretary Stephen
   Barclay told British lawmakers on Wednesday.
   The EU already struck a Brexit divorce deal with former British Prime
   Minister Theresa May, but that was rejected three times by British
   lawmakers. With that experience in mind, EU leaders are seeking
   reassurances from Johnson during this week's summit that he has the
   political weight to push any new deal through the House of Commons.
   The Brexit talks plodded ahead Wednesday, further delaying preparations
   for the EU summit. Since the weekend, negotiators at the EU's
   glass-and-steel headquarters in Brussels have been locked into long
   sessions on how to deal with detailed customs, VAT and regulatory
   issues under British proposals to eliminate border checks between the
   U.K.'s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.
   "Talks have been constructive but there still remains a number of
   significant issues to resolve," EU Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos
   said after being briefed by EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
   Both sides were hoping that after more than three years of false starts
   and sudden reversals, a clean divorce deal for Britain leaving the bloc
   might be sketched out within the coming hours.

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