U.K. Still Aiming for Deal With EU in the Fall: Brexit Update

(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Theresa May has united opposing wings of her Conservative Party in opposition to her Brexit plan. As she gets closer to a deal in Brussels, the chances of Parliament approving it look slimmer than ever.

Coveney Says ‘Still Work to Do’ (12 p.m.)

Speaking after a meeting of Europe ministers in Brussels, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told reporters it’s the start of an important week for Brexit.

“The two negotiating teams have really intensified their engagement,” he said. “The issues aren’t new, there’s clearly still work to do.”

During the meeting, ministers from the EU’s 27 remaining countries warned of the need to continue planning for no deal, two officials with knowledge of the talks said. Governments said they didn’t think they yet had sufficient clarity over the draft deal to arrange a summit for leaders in November.

U.K. Still Aiming for Deal in the Fall (11:34 a.m.)

May’s spokesman James Slack has just finished briefing reporters. He said senior U.K. officials were in talks with European Union negotiators until 2:45 a.m. on Monday, and the government still aims to complete a deal in the autumn.

“We want to make progress as quickly as possible, but not at any cost,” Slack said. “The PM has always said that no deal is better than a bad deal -- that continues to be the case.”

EU Sets Out Its Timetable (10:50 a.m.)

The plan is for a text of the withdrawal agreement to be finalized at negotiator level early this week, according to a person familiar with the plans. Once the draft divorce treaty is agreed, and gets political backing from the U.K. Cabinet, the European Commission will present it to member states.

Alongside it would be a six-page outline of what the future relationship should look like. Officials and then ambassadors from EU member states would discuss it toward the end of this week, then ministers would get back together again on Nov. 19, according to the person. That would allow just enough time for a one-off summit this month for the deal to be signed off.

Earlier:
EU Said to Need More Clarity From U.K Before Fixing Summit Date
Coveney: Teams Engaging Intensively, More Work Needed on Brexit

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