Here's the latest on the Brexit negotiations:
1/ EU officials and diplomats are playing down prospects for a breakthrough in the coming days, with one senior figure saying a deal at the summit would be "ambitious"
1/ EU officials and diplomats are playing down prospects for a breakthrough in the coming days, with one senior figure saying a deal at the summit would be "ambitious"
2/ Following two days of intensive talks the two sides are still far apart on customs. The EU side continues to have grave concerns about the UK proposals to keep NI in the UK customs territory, with Theresa May's old Customs Partnership idea being recycled and adapted for NI
3/ The idea, as far as we can see is that NI is in the UK customs territory, but operating the EU's rules and procedures on tariffs and quotas. If goods are going from GB to NI-only they pay the EU tariff and importers get a rebate on the difference between that and the UK tariff
4/ If the goods go on to cross the border south then the EU tariff is the correct one
5/ Following a briefing by Michel Barnier to EU27 ambassadors, the main problems are:
* the sytem of rebates is very complex
* the plans won't be ready by the end of the transition
* it's not clear how you ensure goods that are destined to remain in NI stay in NI
* the sytem of rebates is very complex
* the plans won't be ready by the end of the transition
* it's not clear how you ensure goods that are destined to remain in NI stay in NI
6/ Another EU reservation is around rules of origin: sugar might be sent from GB to NI, but what if that sugar ends up in fizzy drinks that are they traded over the border? The same applies to a product like steel
7/ Overall the EU have reservations that the idea may not be workable and would give rise to fraud. Overall the EU believe that the more we get back to the Febuary 2018 NI-only backstop the simpler and the more legally operable the solution would be
8/ It's too early to speculate on possible scenarios and options, there are too many alternatives, says one EU source
9/ Another source says technical talks are continuing tomorrow. "The EU is continuing to work on this." But over all the EU have concerns about the UK's conceptual approach, that it's a mish mash of options, while the NI-only backstop is more simply, legally operable etc
10/ A further source says a deal at the summit would be "very difficult, but not impossible"
