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Michel Barnier warned that the negotiators had not managed to advance the last round of intense negotiations,
German Minister of the European Union warned Thomas Theresa May that there was limited room for maneuver in the Brexit negotiations, as the price set by Brussels for a British customs union in the withdrawal agreement threatened to derail negotiations in a difficult week.
Before the meeting of Michel Barnier, the chief negotiator of the bloc, during the last secret talks between the British negotiating team and the European Commission, the EU-27 ministers cast doubt on the chances of a breakthrough imminent.
Michael Roth, German Minister for European Affairs, said that the member states had "made a lot of compromises, but the room for maneuver is very limited and our British friends know exactly where our discussions are."
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders said: "We have time but not much, so it is very difficult to make real progress, but before Christmas, I hope it will be possible.
"Of course, we are prepared for all possibilities, but we are hard pressed to find a good agreement and we are very close, you know what the limits are for the moment.
"About Ireland, we have made a proposal with some changes in the last few days, but so far we have not had a positive signal on this, and I hope that will be the case in the coming weeks. but certainly not today. "
Negotiations appear to be stalled, despite May's hope that a special summit on Brexit will take place at the end of the month to give it the momentum and the time to get an agreement through Parliament.
The Prime Minister's calendar is becoming less worrying, the pound lost 0.8% Monday morning, to reach 1.2827 dollars, a lower level of the last 11 days.
To avoid the emergence of a hard border on the island of Ireland, the government proposes the establishment of a temporary customs union at the United Kingdom level. Uni until another solution is considered by Whitehall.
The EU in turn insists that the UK could not unilaterally withdraw from such an agreement if Whitehall decided that another border solution was possible.
Brussels also calls on the UK to "dynamically" align with future environmental, social and labor regulations, which would force Parliament to cut and paste EU dictates into UK law. .
Member States have also proposed that the Member States undertake to provide the European fishing fleet with access to the British seas after Brexit as a precondition for an agreement on the customs union.
Nathalie Loiseau, the French Minister for the EU, said intensive discussions had taken place and that Brussels was working to avoid a "no agreement" scenario which she said was of paramount importance for the United Kingdom.
She said, "I unfortunately do not have a crystal ball. We will see very closely what the customs union would mean for us because it is between the withdrawal agreement and future relations, so it is of course a bit special to discuss both. We are ready, we are open, but we obviously want to see the details.
"If we put an end to any temporary arrangement, it will be a bilateral decision of both the EU27 and the UK and we must know at that time what sort of solution exists for the Irish border. "
The British cabinet has not yet approved the draft customs union of May, Aleš Chmelař, Czech Minister for European Affairs for Europe, hinted that the blockade was at the political level rather that between the negotiators.
"I still hope that we will soon have a decision on decisive progress in the negotiations, but it remains to be seen whether we will hold a summit before December or not.
"We have all seen technical possibilities on the compromise, it is now a political agreement. I still hope we can make decisive progress this month. "
