European ministers agree on terms of 'painful' Brexit divorce deal

Britain will leave the Union on March 29 next year, but remain within its single market for a further 21 months

European ministers signed off Britain’s draft divorce deal on Monday as they launched an intense final week of negotiations on future cross-Channel ties.

Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and the Union’s Austrian rotating presidency said the negotiated text would be presented to EU leaders at a signing summit on Sunday.

“The first, difficult step is done,” said Austrian minister for Europe Gernot Blumel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, after the ministers met.

Meanwhile, detailed discussions continue on a parallel political statement setting out the bloc's ambitions for future relations with post-Brexit Britain — and on a