Decision time nears as Brexit hit the wall

Post-Brexit trade talks between the EU and UK neared a decisive point yesterday as Europe pushed a leaders summit later in the week as the final chance for a deal.

Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier told MEPs that Wednesday was the effective deadline for a breakthrough as talks with his UK counterpart David Frost dragged on in Brussels.

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Barnier and Frost were wrangling once more yesterday before reporting back to their respective bosses, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The two leaders were set to speak by phone at around 5:00 pm Brussels time (1600 GMT), a call that a diplomats said would assess where matters stood and would likely ask that the negotiators push ahead.

Barnier told a briefing of EU envoys that negotiations were still blocked over fishing rights, rules for fair trade and an enforcement mechanism, still the thorniest problems since talks began eight months ago.

All eyes are on an EU summit on Thursday, when the outline of a deal -- or an admission of the failure to find one -- will be put to the bloc's 27 leaders.

A senior EU diplomat said the leaders would either "welcome a deal" if there was one there, or demand for the urgent preparation of contingency measures in the event talks failed.

"These are going to be decisive hours for the future of our UK relations, and I guess we are at the make it or break it moment," the diplomat told reporters.