EU calls for UK 'clarity'

The EU's Brexit negotiator yesterday urged Britain to provide more clarity on key issues after the second round of talks wrapped up in Brussels with "fundamental" differences remaining.

Michel Barnier said after talks with his counterpart David Davis that the two sides were still at odds over Britain's divorce bill and over the rights of European citizens living in Britain.

"We require this clarification on the financial settlement, citizens rights and on Ireland," Barnier, a former French foreign minister and European Commissioner, told a joint press conference with Davis.

"This week's experience shows that we make better progress when our respective positions are clear," adding that the next round of talks on August 28 "must be about clarification".

Davis, a long-time eurosceptic picked by British Prime Minister Theresa May to lead the negotiations, said the talks were "robust but constructive" but that there was "a lot left to talk about."

"A solution will require flexibility from both sides," he added.

The Brexit talks are the second round since negotiations formally began in June, a year after Britain's historic referendum vote to leave the 28-member European Union, but the first to really go into detail.

The negotiations are dealing with issues around Britain's divorce -- Britain's exit bill, the rights of EU citizens living in Britain, and the Northern Ireland border -- with talks on a future trade deal only set to start if leaders decide in October there has been "sufficient progress".

Barnier warned there was a "fundamental divergence" with Britain on whether the EU's top court would keep jurisdiction over the rights of three million European citizens living in Britain after the UK leaves the bloc.

The EU wants an outline deal agreed by October 2018, so that the European and British parliaments can approve it in time for Brexit day, which is scheduled for the end of March 2019.