Brexit deal ‘achievable,’ May says, as hopes dim

LUXEMBOURG: A negotiated deal between Britain and the European Union is still “achievable,” British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday, even as the prospects for a breakthrough at an EU summit this week faded.

“The shape of a deal across the vast majority of the withdrawal agreement, the terms of our exit, are now clear,” May told lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, the House of Commons.

“We have made real progress in recent weeks on both the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration on our future relationship,” she said, adding that negotiations were now in the “final stages.” The final sticking point — a deal aimed at keeping borders open on the island of Ireland — was taking time to resolve, she said.

Talks on a “backstop option” insisted on by the European Union were being prolonged, she said, by a request for a fallback in case this did not completely work out: “a backstop to the backstop,” as May described it.

The two sides have been working on a deal to prevent Britain from crashing out of the EU in March without transitional arrangements in place.

“We want to see an outcome here that settles nerves, that allows us to move ahead with a managed, sensible Brexit,” said Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney in Luxembourg, where he was meeting his 27 EU counterparts.

“There are one or two very difficult outstanding issues, but I think we can get there. Whether we do this week or not, who knows,” added British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.