BRUSSELS: European Council (EC) President Donald Tusk will make a statement on Brexit early on Friday, his office said on Thursday, prompting speculation on the fate of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans for a deal with Brussels. Talks have been continuing since then to try to resolve the dispute so that EU leaders will agree at a summit next Friday, December 15, to open talks on future trade. An EU official noted, however, that he would be departing for a scheduled visit to Hungary at 8:15 AM. Tusk’s role in the delicate choreography of reaching an accord had been to wait until May strikes a deal on making “sufficient progress” on divorce terms with Juncker’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Tusk would then confirm that he is asking the other 27 EU national leaders to consider draft guidelines on trade negotiations for approval at the summit he will chair.

Source: Pakistan Today December 08, 2017 03:11 UTC