(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Theresa May is not giving up. In the latest twist to the Brexit saga, she is preparing another proposal to submit to Ireland within 24 hours in a dash to meet the European Union's cutoff.
Her Irish counterpart, Leo Varadkar, spoke to her Wednesday afternoon. Later he told reporters in Dublin that “having consulted with the people in London” she “wants to come back to us with some text tonight or tomorrow.
“I expressed my willingness to consider that because I want to move things forward as well,” he said. He's not alone in wanting make it to the finish line. European Commission officials are willing to be flexible on the deadline they've set ahead of a key summit next week, according to people familiar with the situation, as they are keen to see Brexit talks move on to trade.
The EU had set this week as the “deadline of deadlines” for May to come up with proposals to unblock talks ahead of a summit on Dec. 14-15. But European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is willing to meet May right up until the summit, officials said.
Several deadlines have already passed -- including one on Monday when May's meeting with Juncker broke down over the sensitive issue of the Irish border. May spoke to DUP leader Arlene Foster Wednesday morning, as part of efforts to reach an agreement that satisfies both sides.
A European diplomat with knowledge of Irish thinking said the hard deadline is Dec. 11, the day representatives of EU leaders meet in Brussels to prepare their position for the summit.
While European officials are being unusually friendly, May is battling on two fronts at home. She faces a cabinet revolt after two pro-Brexit ministers expressed concern she was watering down Brexit. And she urgently needs to find a proposal that Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party can accept on what the Irish border will look like after Brexit.
May needs to get a breakthrough at the summit that allows talks to move on to the trade deal businesses are desperate to see. If not, the chances of a messy Brexit increase and voices in the U.K. calling for May to walk away without a deal will grow louder.
Those voices were already in the ascendant on Wednesday. Tory lawmaker Peter Bone offered to accompany her to Brussels for the next round of negotiations, Jacob Rees-Mogg asked her if her “red lines” were fading to pink, and Bernard Jenkin urged her to focus on free trade deals beyond Europe. While all were polite, all were reminding May that she faces a revolt if she's seen to be softening her position.
In other developments:
- Cabinet Revolt, Tough Allies Erode Chances of Deal: Brexit Now
- Davis Accused of Misleading Parliament Over Brexit Studies
- Juncker Supporting May to Help Avoid Govt Collapse: EU Official
- Pound Falls as May Faces Revolt From All Sides Over Brexit
- How Much Does It Cost to Leave EU Trade Bloc? U.K. Doesn't Know
Coming Up:
- Dec 8: Barnier speaks in Paris
- Dec. 11: EU leaders representatives meet in Brussels to prepare for summit
- Dec. 12: EU ministers meet in Brussels to finalize summit preparations
- Dec. 14: EU summit -- this is when U.K. wants EU to sign off on divorce terms so talks can move on to trade
--With assistance from Emma Ross-Thomas
To contact the reporters on this story: Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.net, Dara Doyle in Dublin at ddoyle1@bloomberg.net, Peter Flanagan in Dublin at pflanagan23@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Heather Harris at hharris5@bloomberg.net, Flavia Krause-Jackson
©2017 Bloomberg L.P.
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