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20:34, 03-Dec-2017
Juncker to meet May as Brexit deal takes shape
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European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and his Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier will meet EU lawmakers early on Monday, an EU official said on Sunday, in a further sign a Brexit deal with Britain could be ready.
Juncker and Barnier will meet British Prime Minister Theresa May over lunch in Brussels on Monday. Diplomats say agreement on three key issues holding up talks on future trade relations is close. One major hurdle has been European Parliament concerns about the rights of EU citizens in Britain after Brexit.
Juncker’s meeting at 11 a.m. (1000 GMT) with the legislature’s Brexit team, led by Guy Verhofstadt, appears to be an effort to secure approval from Parliament for a deal on citizens’ rights. The parliament must approve any Brexit treaty.
Britain has offered to pay much of what the European Union was demanding to settle a Brexit “divorce bill”, bringing the two sides close to agreement on a key obstacle to opening talks on a future free trade pact. /Reuters Photo
Britain has offered to pay much of what the European Union was demanding to settle a Brexit “divorce bill”, bringing the two sides close to agreement on a key obstacle to opening talks on a future free trade pact. /Reuters Photo
Britain has offered to pay much of what the European Union was demanding to settle a Brexit “divorce bill”, bringing the two sides close to agreement on a key obstacle to opening talks on a future free trade pact.
The EU set the condition of “significant progress” on three key elements of a withdrawal treaty before it would accede to London’s request for negotiations on a free trade pact that could keep business flowing after Brexit in 16 months.
On the Brexit bill, Juncker has estimated Britain would owe roughly 60 billion euros. EU officials say Brussels is willing to work with May to massage those figures in order to help her win backing from hardline Brexit supporters who have in the past insisted that Britain owes Brussels nothing.
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Source(s): Reuters