Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, sent a positive message at the EU summit to an appeal by British Prime Minister Theresa May to help with the negotiating process, saying that talks on Brexit are moving forward and unlikely to break down.
The comments came after the end of the first day of the EU summit and following Theresa May's appeal to EU leaders for help after silence critics at home and breaking the deadlock in the talks. Merkel stressed that, contrary to the British press perception, the talks are going step by step.
After Theresa May leaves the summit on Friday, EU leaders are expected to decide that sufficient progress has not been made to push the talks forward, but will call for talks on a transitional period that would facilitate Brexit in 2019.
Theresa May didn't comment on this, but sought to allay concerns that Britain was using its departure in March 2019 to weaken the EU economy. The EU is seeking a clearer commitment from Britain that it will settle the financial obligations associated with the departure of the EU, and European Union leaders will set a December target for Britain to improve the divorce settlement offer.
