British and European Union negotiators have reached a draft Brexit agreement that will be examined by the United Kingdom cabinet at an emergency meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said on Tuesday.
The announcement comes two years after the referendum in which the British people voted to leave the EU.
‘Cabinet will meet at 2:00 pm (local time) tomorrow (on Wednesday) to consider the draft agreement the negotiating teams have reached in Brussels, and to decide on next steps,’ Downing Street said in a statement.
News agencies quoted sources as saying that the agreement still needed political approval both on the British and European sides.
Ireland's public broadcaster RTE cited two government sources saying a text crucially resolves the Irish border issue -- a key sticking point.
May's cabinet is divided on Brexit, with some senior ministers opposed to provisions that could keep the UK closely tied to the European Union for years to come.
But cabinet approval could pave the way for a historic EU-UK summit in Brussels at the end of November that would finalise the agreement's text.
A final deal would then face other hurdles, the most notable one coming in the British parliament, where May's government's holds a razor-thin majority.
