"We are in a much better atmosphere than after Salzburg" and an agreement on the orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union is "near".
It is in these terms that European Council President Donald Tusk concluded the European summit on Thursday 18 October, which had begun the previous day with a dinner for the EU27 to focus on the state of progress on the negotiation leading to Brexit (see EUROPE 12119). He nevertheless deemed that the progress at this stage was "not sufficient" to enable an immediate decision on a date for a new summit.
"After listening to Prime Minister May's assessment of the state of the negotiations, the EU27 confirmed their resolve to continue the negotiations in a positive spirit. The leaders trust Michel Barnier and have asked him to continue his efforts with a view to reaching an agreement. I am ready to convene a European Council on Brexit if the EU negotiator reports that decisive progress has been made. And it is important to understand that for the time being the progress made is insufficient", he said.
Tusk confirmed the possibility of extending the post-Brexit transition period by a year, as suggested by EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier.
"The issue of the length of the transition period was not discussed yesterday between the leaders. But allow me to recall that, in her Florence speech in September 2017, Prime Minister May proposed a transition period of about two years. And the EU accepted this proposal by unanimity. Consequently, if the United Kingdom decided that an extension of the transition period is useful to reach an agreement, I am sure the leaders would be ready to consider it positively".
For Theresa May, who spoke at the end of the work of the EU27, there are few issues that remain to be resolved, even if these are nevertheless "considerable". Very "aware" of the time needed at the House of Commons to adopt the legislation on the British withdrawal, May will ask MPs to think about the importance of obtaining the vote of the people.
Without an agreement on the Irish issue, "there is no satisfactory answer on the future relationship" between the EU and the UK, Angela Merkel warned.
According to a diplomatic source, the German Chancellor apparently called on her European partners on Wednesday evening to abandon inflexible positions on the backstop aimed at avoiding a return of a physical border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Merkel repeated this on Thursday afternoon: "the EU27 are ready to work to find an agreement and to maintain good relations between us and Great Britain", she said.
According to France's President Emmanuel Macron, the EU27 sent "a message of trust noting progress" and "at the same time a message of urgency". It is now "urgent" to be able to finalise an agreement: all the technical solutions are known and "Michel Barnier's mandate remains unchanged".
Macron said that it is today "very clearly up to Mrs May and her teams to come back with a solution on the basis of the necessary political compromises on the United Kingdom side". (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with editorial team)