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Britain and the European Union are on the edge of finalizing a Brexit separation deal on Monday, as UK Prime Minister Theresa May travels to Brussels to open trade talks.
Northern Ireland and the future role of European courts in Britain are the most delicate issues that remain to be endorsed in a draft joint text that May hopes to sign-off over the meeting with European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker.
According to diplomats involved in the negotiations, objections from Northern Irish unionist politicians are currently the main potential deal-breaker. A senior Irish official said that they await signs of a definitive breakthrough, leaving the agreement hanging in the balance.
The largest risk is the consent of the British cabinet and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist party, May's parliamentary ally, to the wording of a proposed compromise on the Northern Ireland border.
The EU side calls for May to endorse draft language that would, in effect, acknowledge the need for a unique fallback option for Northern Ireland if EU-UK trade relations make a hard border impossible to avoid.
A group of 30 Eurosceptic figures from a campaign group known as Leave Means Leave said that Britain should pull out from talks unless certain demands were met.
May gave in to EU demands on the UK paying a financial settlement of €40 billion-€60 billion net and the rights of EU citizens in Britain.
EU leaders have cautioned May that today's meeting is a deadline for resolving outstanding issues if she hopes to guarantee a “sufficient progress” EU summit on December 14-15.
