Last night, there was a “breakthrough” in negotiations between the UK and the EU.
There was a “breakthrough” in talks between the UK and EU last night, government sources say, as Keir Starmer hosts a summit of EU leaders in London
The sources say the remaining “stumbling blocks” to a deal, mostly concerning fishing rights, were solved at about 22:30 on Sunday
The UK-EU summit is intended to “reset” relations – topics include defence, trade, fishing, and a possible youth mobility scheme
The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 – the Conservatives have called today’s meetings a “surrender summit”
It feels like a landmark moment. After the years of Brexit noise, there were the years of (relative) Brexit silence. Yesterday, on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, EU relations minister Nick Thomas-Symonds confirmed the UK is pushing for UK passport holders to use EU e-gates.
When Brexit ended freedom of movement, it changed the rules for people travelling to European countries. Now, British passport holders can’t use “EU/EEA/CH” lanes at EU border crossings.
They still don’t need a visa for short trips to the Schengen area, but there’s a limit of 90 days in any 180-day period.Reynolds: EU reset deal still not agreed
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is now joining Sky News ahead of the first UK-EU summit since Brexit, which is taking place in London today.
He was asked about reports from our deputy political editor Sam Coates that the “core details” of a reset deal were agreed in the early hours.
Reynolds says: “Nothing on these deals is sorted until it all gets sorted.
“There’s a deal to be done here, we’ve always said that.
“There are real benefits to the UK which are on offer on sorting this out, because there are massive gaps that we have with the EU at the moment.”
He points to issues over agricultural products and e-gates.
Pushed again, Reynolds refuses to confirm the deal is as good as done.
“Absolutely I believe there is a positive resolution we can get to if we keep at this,” he says. “But we haven’t got to it yet.”
The minister later clarified: “There is not currently a deal agreed at this point.”
As a reminder, Sky News understands there was a “late breakthrough” on the EU reset deal between the UK and the European Union.
We’ve been told to expect news on the deal “mid morning” – as European leaders gather in London for the first UK-EU summit since Brexit.
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