Merkel might have made it easier for May to sell Brexit at home
Brussels — German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered Theresa May the political cover she’s been asking for to take further steps in Brexit talks, calling on both sides to move so that a deal can be reached by year-end. The UK prime minister signalled she was willing to offer more on the divorce bill, according to a UK official. May urged leaders at a European summit to help her find a deal she could sell to sceptics at home, and her counterparts responded with words of encouragement — though no concrete concessions. Merkel said there was "zero indication" that Brexit talks would not succeed and she "truly" wanted an agreement rather than an "unpredictable resolution". She welcomed the concessions May made in a landmark speech in Florence last month and said she was "very motivated" to get talks moved on from the divorce settlement to trade by December. "Now both sides need to move," she told reporters after hearing May speak at dinner, in a shift of rhetoric for the EU side, which has...
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