The sit-down comes after Barnier said on Saturday that the European Union was ready to give London further guarantees to help push a troubled divorce deal through the British parliament. Barnier also suggested European leaders would be amenable to a short "technical" delay in Britain's departure from the EU, scheduled for March 29, to give parliament time to formally ratify a final divorce deal. Barnier, a former French foreign minister, will meet in Brussels with Britain's attorney general Geoffrey Cox and Brexit minister Stephen Barclay for talks that start at 1700 (1600 GMT). ADVICEEarlier disfavourable advice by Cox was viewed as a contributing factor in the defeat of May's deal by MPs in January. "Many Tories who dislike May's deal are reluctantly coming round to the idea of voting for it," said Eurasia Group analyst Mujtaba Rahman, a former UK official.

Source: Daily Nation March 05, 2019 05:48 UTC