Although it will be very "difficult", an agreement with the United Kingdom on an orderly withdrawal from the European Union can still be reached by the time of the EU summit, but it must be almost finalised on Tuesday 15 October at midnight for referral to the capitals on Wednesday 16 October and for the Twenty-Seven to give their approval on Thursday 17 October.
This is the message that the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, sent to the 27 European Affairs Ministers meeting on Tuesday morning in the General Affairs Council in Luxembourg to take stock of the negotiations.
Mr Barnier reported progress, albeit "slow", in discussions with British negotiators. He also hoped that the progress still to be made on Tuesday could be put into a secure legal text as discussions focus in particular on the issue of customs and the application of EU rules in Northern Ireland.
According to Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, an agreement at the EU summit seemed "feasible", although he did not rule out the possibility of further work next week. "That is feasible because the UK isn’t due to leave the EU until the end of the month," he replied again to journalists in Luxembourg.
Brexit is on the agenda of the Twenty-Seven on Thursday evening and, as the Irish Minister said, "there will be no negotiation of text at the summit".
France takes the line that the European Council cannot "be the forum for technical and detailed negotiations. Things must be clear before the start of the European summit", said a source from the Elysée.
According to Mr Coveney, if the negotiations are not finalised by Thursday, the discussion of the Twenty-Seven could then focus on the conditions for a further extension of the deadlines provided for in Article 50 of the Treaty. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with Mathieu Bion)