MNI BRIEF: Weekend Could Be Too Soon For UK/EU Deal: Sources

A deal between the UK and the EU is a possibility by the weekend, but there is still a concern that the concessions needed on the EU side could be too high a price for Paris, an EU diplomat told MNI Tuesday. The diplomat said the differences remained greatest on the topic of the level playing field (LPF), not fishing rights which, he said, were a "red herring".

Soundings in the UK also suggest the negotiations will continue into next week, though they point out that the UK government will be running into its legislative agenda for its contentious Internal Market Bill and the Finance Bill, with the troublesome Northern Ireland clauses on the floor of the Commons that risk closing the window on a deal with the EU.

Sources in London have consistently maintained that level playing field terms have all along been the most intractable issue in the ongoing talks.