Brexit: Negotiators facing a knot

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At the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, Brexit talks intensified without reaching agreement. REUTERS / Francois Lenoir

Despite the intensification of discussions this weekend and a meeting on Sunday, October 14 between negotiators Dominic Raab and Michel Barnier, Europeans and British have still not reached an agreement on Brexit.

With our Brussels correspondent Joana Hostein

There is still no white smoke over the European Commission. The arrival in Brussels of the British minister responsible for Brexit for a last-minute meeting with Michel Barnier had nevertheless led to believe the conclusion of an agreement. This is even what had been announced by several media, citing anonymously European diplomats.

But the EU negotiator denied in the evening. " Still no compromise on Ireland despite intense efforts ," tweeted Michel Barnier.

We put today @DominicRaab and UK negotiating team. Despite intense efforts, some key issues are still open, including the backstop for IE / NI to avoid a hard border. I will debrief the EU27 and @Europarl_EN on the #Brexit negotiations.

The most difficult is not so much to find a technical agreement at the level of the negotiators, but a political agreement between the British in London, explains a diplomat. " We're like a knot," he continues. There is no point in pulling on either side of the rope, otherwise you will never be able to disentangle it. "

To allow time for the British to agree, it was decided to cancel all scheduled meetings until Wednesday's European summit. But the countdown has begun. And in Brussels, we are preparing more and more for the scenario of a Brexit without agreement.