No deal reached between May and Juncker over Irish Border

British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission Presient president Jean-Claude Juncker admitted today that they had not managed to strike a Brexit deal, despite frenzied negotiations, which ended without agreement over the Irish Border not reached.

While it seemed that both parties were confident that an agreement would be reached on the issue of citizens’ rights, the UK’s Brexit bill, and the Irish border, the fact that Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party had not yet been signed up caused negotiations to halt regarding the latter issue.

May said that “There are a couple of issues, some differences do remain which require further negotiation and consultation,” as Juncker insisted that talks had not failed, but admitted that Brussels’ deadline to find solutions to the three issues had not succeeded.

The DUP refused to accept a compromise on the Irish border question which would see the UK being committed to “continued regulatory alignment” to ensure a hard border, with DUP leader Arlene Foster having voiced her outrage at the suggestion.

A leaders’ summit is scheduled for next week, but talks for trade and on a transition period cannot start until Brussels deems the UK to have made enough progress on the pending issues.