No deal in Brexit talks yet, says EU

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

No Brexit deal has been “reached today,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Monday.

Describing her as a “tough negotiator,” Juncker said his talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May were constructive but “it was not possible to reach a complete deal today.”

Juncker’s remarks came in Brussels following a meeting with May.

May said a lot of progress was made in negotiations and that they will continue before the end of the week. She did not speak of any agreement on any of the key issues, namely citizens’ rights, the Northern Ireland border, and the financial settlement.

However, earlier unconfirmed reports suggested that the U.K. is close to agreeing with the EU’s approach to the post-Brexit border issue between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

“I am confident we will conclude this positively,” May said.

Earlier in the day leaked reports suggested that the U.K. was close to agreeing to the EU’s solution to keep the U.K. region in the Customs Union and single market to avoid any hard border with Ireland.

"On the question of the border, as I’ve said many times, the best and most obvious solution would be for the U.K. to remain in the Customs Union and single market,” Varadkar said last week after a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk in Dublin.

'No regulatory divergence' in Ireland

But Arlene Fosters, the leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, accused Ireland of trying seeking to unilaterally change the Belfast Agreement.

The DUP is supporting May’s minority government in the House of Lords in a so-called confidence and supply deal.

Fosters told a press conference that her party “would not accept any form of regulatory divergence” in Ireland after Brexit.

On Friday Leo Varadkar, Ireland's premier, called on London to provide a “credible” plan for the border separating his country from the U.K. once Britain leaves the European Union.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan also reacted to news coming from the EU’s capital.

“Huge ramifications for London if Theresa May has conceded that it's possible for part of the UK to remain within the single market & customs union after Brexit,” he said on Twitter.

“Londoners overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU and a similar deal here could protect tens of thousands of jobs,” he added. Khan has been suggesting that London could have a special status with the bloc, after Brexit.

Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon supported the leaked solution suggesting a possible continuation of Northern Ireland’s membership in the EU single market.

“If one part of UK can retain regulatory alignment with EU and effectively stay in the single market (which is the right solution for Northern Ireland) there is surely no good practical reason why others can’t,” Sturgeon said on Twitter.

Scottish voters voted to remain in the EU in June 2016, as did Northern Ireland and the capital London.

The EU will decide in mid-December whether there has been sufficient progress in Brexit negotiations to consider moving the talks to a further stage where future relations between the U.K. and the bloc are discussed.