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Outlook gloomy as Brexit talks reach ‘endgame’

EU’s chief negotiator gives downbeat assessment
Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel said they were prepared to change their stance but “barriers remain to progress”
Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel said they were prepared to change their stance but “barriers remain to progress”
JOHN THYS/REUTERS

Brexit negotiations remain deadlocked today after a “gloomy and downbeat” assessment of any chance to get a deal in the coming days by Michel Barnier, the European Union’s chief negotiator.

Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister, said that Mr Barnier had reported back to Dublin this morning on last night’s crisis talks in Brussels with Lord Frost, the chief British negotiator.

“The news is very downbeat. I would say he is very gloomy, and obviously very cautious about the ability to make progress today,” he told Ireland’s state broadcaster RTE.

“I’d like to be giving more positive news but at the moment these negotiations seem stalled, and the barriers to progress are still very much in place.”

EU and British negotiators are looking to find