MNI SOURCE: Need Brexit Breakthrough Soon Or No Deal: Diplomat

European Union leaders are unlikely to echo optimistic noises on progress on key sticking points in the Brexit trade talks following their video summit this evening, an EU diplomat told MNI.

The source told MNI that the timetable of the EU Parliament had, by default, become the effective deadline for the talks.

"But things are getting a bit silly now. Either we get somewhere soon, or we just don't," the source commented.

The EU Parliament has a scheduled plenary session from December 14 to 17, which follows a December 10 EU Council meeting, where Members of the European Parliament would be able to ratify any EU-UK trade deal, although EU officials have cautioned in the past that they would need some time to turn any political deal into a legal text which could be presented to MEPs.

The diplomat said that EU leaders would call on the EU Commission tonight to "initiate contingency measures" even if a deal is eventually reached.

"…There will be disruption regardless, and at this stage it is unclear to what extent a deal, if any, will take that away," the diplomat said.

The source said that the EU and UK negotiating teams are "soldiering on valiantly", but added: "We'll have to see whether that yields anything."

"The Holy Trinity of fish, LPF (level playing field guarantees) and governance still lies at the heart of the problem," he added.

Officials said EU Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier remains 'penciled in' to brief EU ambassadors on Friday on the latest state of the trade talks with the UK.