EU negotiators consider the divorce agreement in Brexit as very close – sources

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union negotiators on Brexit say a divorce agreement with Britain is "very close," diplomatic sources said, saying a compromise was needed. could be considered on the most contentious issue of the future Irish border.

The EU announced Thursday that it is engaging with new UK proposals to avoid large-scale controls at the Irish border after Brexit, a potential breaker in the unprecedented negotiations to end all four British decades of the block.

A member of the Brexit negotiator's team in the EU, Michel Barnier, briefed Brussels on Thursday at a briefing with national diplomats that a divorce agreement with Britain was "very close", according to two sources at the meeting.

Their comments allowed the pound sterling to reach a 10 – week high against the euro.

Both parties are trying to get the divorce agreement and a post-Brexit deal accepted over the arrival line in time for the two leaders' summits scheduled for October 17 and 18 and the November 17 and 18.

According to the plan being drawn up, the EU would be assured that the urgent solution at the Irish border would be undetermined, while Britain would come out if the whole United Kingdom United – rather than Northern Ireland – remained in customs union with the block must it trigger the security border?

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Thursday in Brussels that no new proposal has been made on paper and that it should arrive well before the EU summit in less than two weeks to allow enough time for analysis.

Sources in Brussels say that the devil is in the details.

Such a compromise would leave the EU concerned that Britain could use the special access of Northern Ireland to the Union's single market to sell cheaper products that do not respect labor, environmental and other standards.

The bloc fears that London will use any of the special trade measures agreed for Northern Ireland as a cornerstone of the future global trading relationship to gain an unfair competitive advantage.

CANADA +++

A senior EU diplomat said the bloc might seek to impose other conditions on such an agreement, but that they have not yet been specified.

For Britain, the problem is to accept controls over goods and livestock with Northern Ireland, which the Democratic Unionist Party of the province – on which British Prime Minister Theresa May intends to govern – opposes firmly.

Britain's Brexit said on Friday that London's new proposals on the Irish border would preserve the integrity of the UK.

While the EU is pushing London on the Irish riddle, the remaining 27 states in the bloc are also developing their proposal for future links with Britain. A member of the Barnier team was due to present his presentation to 27 EU ambassadors in Brussels later on Friday.

The president of European leaders, Donald Tusk, said Thursday that a "Canada +++" was proposed, which means an advanced free trade agreement, coupled with close security ties and close cooperation in business worldwide, among others.

Another senior EU diplomat said the EU would propose "zero tariffs and zero quotas" in trade with Britain after Brexit, which would go beyond that. that the block has with Canada.

Such a proposal is welcomed by May's critics at home, who advocate a more uncompromising EU cut than she seeks. For the block, however, the Irish emergency break would still be an essential element of any such offer.

Any agreement between May and her European counterparts must be approved by the British and British parliaments, another hurdle to overcome to avoid the most damaging scenario that Britain would leave the bloc without too much to mitigate the economic shock.