LONDON — Giving an upbeat verdict on an inconclusive European Union summit, British Prime Minister Theresa May said Monday she has "a degree of confidence" that Brexit talks will be able to move to their decisive second phase by December.
She told lawmakers that the talks on Britain's divorce from the EU had made "important progress," despite a judgment by the 27 other EU leaders that more needs to be done before the two sides can discuss trade and their future relations.
With Britain's March 2019 departure from the EU moving closer, Britain is eager to start discussing trade and future relations with the bloc. But EU leaders say there has not yet been "sufficient progress" on divorce terms, including the size of the bill Britain must pay to settle its commitments to the bloc.
Meanwhile, a German newspaper report claim that EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who dined with May last week, saw her as "despondent" and "begging" the EU to help her make progress.
Juncker denied saying any such thing, insisting that his dinner with May in Brussels had not gone nearly as badly as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung suggested.
Juncker and his chief aide denied leaking the account of the meeting to the newspaper, and May's spokesman declined to comment on it.
Meanwhile, Britain's biggest business groups urged May's Conservative government to quickly agree to a transition period of at least two years after Brexit to provide certainty about trade as companies make critical decisions about jobs and investment.
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| UK's Theresa May |
She told lawmakers that the talks on Britain's divorce from the EU had made "important progress," despite a judgment by the 27 other EU leaders that more needs to be done before the two sides can discuss trade and their future relations.
With Britain's March 2019 departure from the EU moving closer, Britain is eager to start discussing trade and future relations with the bloc. But EU leaders say there has not yet been "sufficient progress" on divorce terms, including the size of the bill Britain must pay to settle its commitments to the bloc.
Meanwhile, a German newspaper report claim that EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who dined with May last week, saw her as "despondent" and "begging" the EU to help her make progress.
Juncker denied saying any such thing, insisting that his dinner with May in Brussels had not gone nearly as badly as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung suggested.
Juncker and his chief aide denied leaking the account of the meeting to the newspaper, and May's spokesman declined to comment on it.
Meanwhile, Britain's biggest business groups urged May's Conservative government to quickly agree to a transition period of at least two years after Brexit to provide certainty about trade as companies make critical decisions about jobs and investment.
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