British claims that Brexit should be close to the next EU deadline

A BREXIT agreement is almost at hand, Britain's de facto MP Theresa May said Tuesday, as the EU and Britain sought to avoid missing a deadline for approval of divorce.

While officials choreograph the first withdrawal of a sovereign state from the EU, it is unclear whether May can get approval from the British parliament.

"We are almost at hand now," said Cabinet Minister David Lidington on BBC radio. When asked if he said that an agreement was possible in the next 24 or 48 hours, he replied: "Still possible but not defined at all, I think that sums it up pretty well." With cautious optimism.

A British government source said that an agreement on a withdrawal agreement was closer than it had been on Monday, after negotiators worked late into the night at the Berlaymont's modernist building. the European Commission in Brussels.

Sterling, which reached the threshold of $ 1.50 just before the results of the 2016 referendum vote on Britain's departure from the European Union, jumped nearly 1 pc.

Brussels wants an agreement on a draft agreement by Wednesday at the latest if a summit is to be approved this month, although few in Brussels seemed to have much hope that a breakthrough could occur this week.

The EU and the UK need an agreement to maintain trade between the world's largest trading block and the fifth largest national economy.

But May has struggled to unravel nearly 46 years of membership without harming trade or upset lawmakers who ultimately decide the fate of any agreement it can get.

BREXIT DEAL?

By delaying the approval of an agreement by the European leaders until the next summit scheduled for 13 and 14 December, the calendar would be closer to the British Parliament Christmas holiday, scheduled for 20 December to the 1st. January. 7, potentially pushing the vote in the new year.

May told key cabinet ministers Tuesday that good progress had been made, a spokeswoman said, adding that there were still a few issues outstanding.

It is unclear when the cabinet will be called to discuss a draft withdrawal agreement with the EU or outline the future relationship.

But the complexities of any deal may not stem May's growing opposition at home: Brexit opponents fear it will sign the UK for submission to the EU.

Brussels diplomatic sources said the bloc was trying to persuade May to seal an agreement this week and to ratify it later this month, fearing that any delay would increase the chances of rejection by its ministers or parliament.

The European Commission has lobbied May by advancing emergency preparations for a Brexit without agreement.

IRELAND

Less than five months elapsed before Britain left the European Union, the main outstanding issue being Northern Ireland.

This is an insurance policy designed to prevent a return to border controls between the British province of Northern Ireland and Ireland, a member of the United Kingdom. EU, if a future trade relationship is not agreed in time.

But an EU diplomat said that the whole of the single European market and the freedom of citizens to live anywhere in it were at stake. Ireland does not concern Ireland itself, it's just the tip of the iceberg, "said the diplomat.

"This is the single market and the freedom of movement – that's no less than the future of the EU If we leave Ireland now, it will cast a shadow over the future of the EU. "

London's proposal to set up a single British customs system must ensure that Britain complies with EU rules on state aid and competition, labor rights and environmental standards.

The duration of protection is also under study. The EU does not want to allow London to terminate it unilaterally. London said the safety net should be temporary.

In seeking to leave the EU while maintaining the closest possible ties, May's compromise plan upset the Brexiteers, pro-Europeans, Scottish nationalists, the DUP and some of its own ministers.

"No one is fooled by this theater.Late delay after staged," said former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. "An agreement will be reached and this will imply a surrender by the United Kingdom."

Johnson, a prominent Brexit activist who resigned from May's government in July because of her strategy, said the deal would make Britain a colony of the EU.

Reuters