High-level Brexit talks between the EU and the UK will resume on Wednesday in Brussels following a breakdown on Monday, which has jeopardised next week’s key EU summit.
An intervention by DUP leader Arlene Foster objecting to proposed agreement language is understood to have been critical to the failure.
A clearly chastened European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker told journalists that at the lunch meeting with British prime minister Theresa May "it has not been possible to reach a complete understanding", and that "two or three issues remain open for discussion".
Among those issues is the Irish Border question, where agreement was described as “tantalisingly close” by a source close to the talks.
They also failed to agree on a role for the European Court of Justice in protecting citizens’ rights.
The meeting had been expected to clear the way for agreement that “substantial progress” had been achieved on the three priority issues facing the Brexit “divorce” talks. That would allow for the opening of talks on trade and the UK’s future EU relationship.
Leaked draft
Early reports from the meeting and leaks in the press had suggested an agreement was at hand on the Border. Language from a leaked draft of the agreement promised that the UK would ensure “continued regulatory alignment” on the island of Ireland.
That wording reflected central Irish preoccupations with getting practical measures to guarantee a frictionless Border by removing reasons for compliance verification on the Border. Common standards on both sides of a free-trade Border make customs posts unnecessary. A separate regime in Northern Ireland would almost certainly, however, make some form of Border controls with the rest of the UK inevitable.
Angered by the implication of the leak and by public comments from Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney which suggested that Irish concerns were being met in full, Ms Foster, whose party is providing essential votes to the minority Tory government, issued a statement insisting that unionists would not accept any suggestion that there would be "regulatory divergence" between Northern Ireland and the UK.
Tough negotiator
Ms May then broke off from the meeting in Brussels to ring her, but was reportedly unable to assuage her.
Mr Juncker, who paid tribute to Ms May as a “tough negotiator”, told the press conference he remained confident that they could yet reach “sufficient progress” before the European Council meeting on December 14th.
Ms May said: “We have been negotiating hard, and a lot of progress has been made, and on many of the issues there is a common understanding, and it is clear - crucially - that we want to move forward together. But on a couple of issues some differences do remain which require further negotiation and consultation.”
Both refused to take questions.
