Glimmers of hope
It’s not all doom and gloom in Brussels. While Brexit negotiators acknowledged frustration on both sides on the second day of negotiations, signs of progress are also emerging, Bloomberg’s Ian Wishart writes. Officials spent the day delving into the details of the issues they need to make headway on before an October summit of leaders. Several hours were devoted to ideas on keeping the Irish border as open as possible, as well as the rights of European nationals in the U.K. The past two days show that Britain’s divorce payment to the European Union remains one of the biggest sticking points, people familiar with the talks said. Both sides are barely going further than trying to understand each others’ positions, quizzing each other as they seek to tease out common ground, said the people, speaking on condition of anonymity. Still, standing accused by EU negotiator Michel Barnier of wasting time, the U.K. has sought to regain some of the initiative this week by spelling out i