Brexit talks stutter, but EU leaders might give Theresa May a break

European Union (EU) negotiators see no big breakthrough in a new round of Brexit talks from Monday nor when Theresa May attends a summit next week, yet leaders could offer the beleaguered British prime minister a hand, EU officials believe.

Talks which began on Monday in Brussels have a thin schedule - British Brexit Secretary David Davis is to meet EU negotiator Michel Barnier on Tuesday and again on Thursday. But Wednesday is blank on the timetable and officials will not touch on the knottiest outstanding problem - how much Britain pays the EU.
That all but rules out "miracles" on key divorce issues that Barnier's boss says are needed for May's 27 fellow EU leaders to agree to open the talks she wants on a post-Brexit free trade pact when they all meet in Brussels next Thursday and Friday.

The prime minister revived an increasingly sour dialogue two weeks ago by offering concessions in a speech in Florence. But talks that followed left big gaps on three core issues on which the EU demands "significant progress" before Barnier can so much as mention what happens after Britain leaves in 18 months time.

Yet such is the opposition to compromise that May faces within her own party that many EU diplomats think leaders could give her some hope at the summit to help her face down calls for Britain to simply walk out without a deal - an eventuality that the Europeans are nonetheless preparing for.
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