European Council to postpone its assessment on Brexit negotiations?

The European Parliament has adopted a non-legislative Resolution on the state of play of the Brexit negotiations with the UK. The Resolution notes that the European Parliament believes that sufficient progress has not yet been made on the three key issues of citizens' rights, the UK's financial settlement, and the Republic of Ireland/Northern Ireland border.

An EU-27 European Council summit on 19 and 20 October is scheduled to assess progress in the Brexit negotiations.

The European Parliament Resolution recommends that, unless a major breakthrough on the three key issues is reached at the fifth round of negotiations, the European Council should decide to postpone its assessment on whether sufficient progress has been made.

However at the fifth round of Brexit negotiations this week, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said there has not been enough progress to move to the next stage of Brexit talks as the UK wants. He said there was "new momentum" in the process but there was still "deadlock" over how much the UK pays when it leaves. Brexit Secretary David Davis said he still hoped for the go-ahead for trade talks when the European Council meets next week.