Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Britain narrows gap in last-gasp Brexit talks

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LUXEMBOURG: Britain and the EU made headway in eleventh-hour talks to work out a Brexit deal in time for a leaders’ summit this week, but with hours left to clinch a deal it was still unclear whether London could avoid a delay to its October 31 scheduled departure.


The European Union’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier made clear at a meeting of ministers in Luxembourg that if an agreement wasn’t reached on Tuesday, it would be too late to send anything for the bloc’s leaders to approve at their meeting on Thursday and Friday.


However, as technical talks continued in Brussels, word emerged that gaps on an agreement had narrowed and the two sides were close to agreeing on a text.


One EU official said an agreement was “close but not 100 per cent certain”, adding “there are still parts that need to be nailed down”. Others were more cautious: one senior official said it was “way too premature” to conclude


that a deal was at hand.


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