A second person familiar with the outcome of the discussions, an EU diplomat, told POLITICO: “I think we will see a little bit [of] back and forth during the negotiation, because also that’s the British negotiation style, and we’ll see, you know, some drama.
“But I think at the end of the day, if you sit in London or sit in Westminster, and you’re looking at that text, I’m sure you’ll be thinking ‘this we can work with.’ There would be absolutely no surprises … They know us very well, we know them very well.”
The two mandates on the agri-food deal and emissions trading, which are not expected to be published in full, will be formally rubber-stamped at the next meeting of the EU’s General Affairs Council on Monday Nov. 17.
Movement on talks is likely to be welcomed on the U.K. side. Questioned about the slow progress of the reset at a Westminster committee hearing on Tuesday, the U.K.’s Trade Secretary Peter Kyle told lawmakers: “I can assure you that if there are time delays any of these [topics], they are not coming from the U.K. side.”