Britain has offered to pay much of what the European Union was demanding to settle a Brexit “divorce bill,” bringing the two sides close to agreement on a key obstacle to opening talks on a future free trade pact, EU sources said on Tuesday. The offer, which British newspapers valued at around €50 billion, reflected the bulk of outstanding EU demands that include London paying a share of post-Brexit EU spending on commitments made before Britain leaves in March 2019 as well as funding of EU staff pensions for decades to come. EU officials close to the negotiations stressed that work was still continuing ahead of May’s talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and his chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. On the issue of the rights of EU citizens in Britain, EU negotiators are still pressing Britain to accept that European judges should have a final say on enforcing those rights. Britain has yet to satisfy EU – including Irish – demands that it clarify how it would avoid a “hard border” with customs posts on land between Northern Ireland and the EU.

Source: Dhaka Tribune November 29, 2017 06:11 UTC