UK PM predicts talks will 'go down to wire' for EU summit deal

Detailed summary

UK PM predicts talks will 'go down to wire' for EU summit deal | World News

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Thursday that talks to wrap up a reset deal with the EU for a summit next week looked set to "go down to the wire", after meeting European leaders.

"I will fight now over the days to come to make sure we get this deal over the line," Burnham said after he attended a broad gathering of dozens of European leaders in Dublin.

"I suspect it will go down to the wire as these things probably will get hard, but we won't turn our back on these negotiations."

Burnham's summit with top EU officials Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa in Brussels on November 20 is seen as the first test of his vow to cement better ties more than a decade after Britain voted to leave in the Brexit referendum.

The UK leader who took power in July has broken through taboos in Britain's highly divisive domestic debate over the EU by going so far as to tout the possibility that Britain could one day apply to rejoin.

The two sides are looking to deliver three main agreements a deal cutting red tape for food exports, another linking the two sides' emissions-trading schemes and a third on a "youth experience scheme".

The accords were in the pipeline long before Burnham moved into 10 Downing Street.

But officials warn there remain some hurdles most notably the EU's demand for London to let European students attend British universities at reduced rates.

"The requests are coming from the European side, we are putting our requests on the table too," Burnham said.

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