UK says 'good progress made' on final Brexit deal

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

The Brexit talks are going well and both the U.K. and the EU want to work towards a deal “at a faster pace”, British Prime Minister Theresa May said Thursday.

Speaking upon her arrival in Brussels for the European Council summit, May said, “very good progress” had been made in talks over a final Brexit deal.

"I think both sides are keen to continue that work at a faster pace than we have done up till now and certainly we would welcome that," May said.

May said a government white paper, which will detail the British stance on the final deal, will be published next week.

She added that a deal would be in both sides’ interest.

"That's why I'm confident we can sit down and discuss that at pace and ensure that we can achieve what we want, which is that continuing partnership with the European Union on economic and security matters,” she said.

Also speaking in Brussels, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU was preparing for all eventualities, including no deal at the end of negotiations.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who is in Brussels as well, last week warned that “time is running out” to reach an agreement on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

The future border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland has been one of the thorniest issues in Brexit talks.

Backstop

The EU has suggested to align Northern Ireland with the EU customs union as a backstop option, which would create a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.

Backstop is a baseball term to define the boards surrounding a baseball pitch to stop the ball if it is not caught or hit.

The term is used in Brexit negotiations to mean the creation of a safety net to avoid a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland should the negotiations for U.K. exit from the EU fail to reach a full agreement. The U.K. said it could not apply that proposal but then suggested a “temporary customs arrangement” between the whole of the U.K. and the EU for a limited period of time after the still-to-be-agreed-upon transition or implementation period, which is to end in December 2020.

Rejecting the U.K.’s proposal, the EU has said London should propose an alternative to avoid a future hard border on the island of Ireland.

Britain is set to leave the EU in March 2019.