When Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, briefed leaders of the European parliament last week, his comments betrayed the weariness of someone who has spent a good part of the past few months trying in vain to square a circle.
“The risk of a no-deal has not been eliminated,” the silver-haired Frenchman declared, adding that the situation with Brexit “remains serious and uncertain”.
Despite the assertion by Boris Johnson that “the rough shape” of a deal is emerging ahead of his meeting tomorrow in Luxembourg with the European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, the mood in Brussels remains one of caution – amid concern the government has yet to fill crucial gaps needed to do a deal in time for a pivotal EU summit on
