EU struggles to agree on Gibraltar before Brexit summit

BRUSSELS REUTERS NOV23- Spain’s eleventh-hour objection over Gibraltar prevented the European Union on Friday from clearing the last hurdle before a leaders’ summit on Sunday is due to endorse the Brexit deal with Britain.

A meeting in Brussels of national negotiators of the 27 EU states staying on together after Brexit ended with no agreement on Gibraltar after nearly three hours. “The work continues,” one diplomatic source said.

Four months before Britain leaves the EU, the legal divorce treaty and an accompanying political declaration on future ties are due to be rubber-stamped by British Prime Minister Theresa May and the leaders of the 27 countries remaining in the EU.

May will arrive for more talks with the head of the EU’S executive, Jean-claude Juncker, in Brussels late on Saturday, just hours before the summit is due to start.

Her spokeswoman said in London May would work with the Spanish government on Gibraltar, a disputed British overseas territory.

A tourist stands after leaving the British colony of Gibraltar at its border with Spain (Reuters).