Brexit issues still not settled

Envoys from the EU’s 28 governments failed to bridge remaining differences over changes to the UK’s terms of membership, underscoring the political stakes in the run-up to a meeting of the bloc’s national leaders next week.

While the diplomats meeting in Brussels yesterday made progress on technical and legal clarifications of the text published earlier this month, the main political items are still not settled, an EU official said on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

British prime minister David Cameron needs approval from every other national leader in the EU for a deal at the February 18-19 summit in Brussels.