A pledge by Britain and the European Union to engage in “continuous” Brexit talks has yet to actually materialise into meetings, as the deadline to reach a deal looms.

The bloc’s negotiator Michel Barnier and his opposite number Dominic Raab last week said they would begin to negotiate “continuously” as talks entered the “final stage” with some significant issues yet to be overcome.

But despite a week passing since the pledge was made, there have been no official meetings scheduled between the teams since last Wednesday.

Asked whether any further meetings were in the pipeline a spokesperson for the European Commission told reporters in Brussels at lunchtime on Tuesday: “At the moment we have not got a meeting we can confirm as yet.”

An official from the Department for Exiting the European Union suggested there would be meetings on Wednesday and Thursday of this week – a week since the last meeting and far from a continuous arrangement.

Despite the pledge to intensify discussions, it remains to be seen whether more talks would actually serve any useful purpose – possibly explaining the lack of urgency.

Officials are struggling to make any progress because of deadlock at the political level, with both the British Government and European member states outright rejecting each others’ proposals for the Northern Ireland border – the crucial sticking point in discussions.

At the moment we have not got a meeting we can confirm as yet. European Commission spokesperson

The Northern Ireland border issue must be solved before a withdrawal agreement can be signed, and the Irish government has said a withdrawal agreement without a border backstop would “be of no use” – effectively threatening a no-deal. The European Parliament, which also has its own veto, has made a similar threat.

Both Britain and the EU say they want to prevent a hard border in Ireland; the EU has proposed Northern Ireland staying in the EU customs territory to accomplish this. The UK has rejected this proposal on the basis that it would be a breach of British sovereignty, but the EU has argued that it would not be, and suggested the UK “de-dramatise” its response to the plan – effectively telling Britain to chill out.

The EU says the UK’s own proposal would not prevent a hard border, and UK officials have suggested they have no plans to offer any further solutions.

EU warns Brexit will cause disruption with or without a deal

Apart from the Ireland issue, UK and EU also want to come to a separate political declaration on what their future trade relationship will look like. Though the main talks for finalising this relationship would be held after the UK leaves, the British government says it needs detail on the future relationship to pass the plan through Parliament.

Theresa May’s Chequers plan, the UK’s blueprint for the future relationship, has effectively been rejected by the European Commission. The EU raised fundamental issues with the British unique proposals for customs, as well as unhindered special UK access to the single market for goods.

Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An abandoned shop is seen in Mullan, Co Monaghan. The building was home to four families who left during the Troubles. The town was largely abandoned after the hard border was put in place during the conflict. Mullan has seen some regeneration in recent years, but faces an uncertain future with Brexit on the horizon Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A defaced ‘Welcome to Northern Ireland’ sign stands on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Mervyn Johnson owns a garage in the border town of Pettigo, which straddles the counties of Donegal and Fermanagh. ‘I’ve been here since 1956, it was a bit of a problem for a few years. My premises has been blown up about six or seven times, we just kept building and starting again,’ Johnson said laughing. ‘We just got used to it [the hard border] really but now that it’s gone, we wouldn't like it back again’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Farmer Gordon Crockett’s Coshquin farm straddles both Derry/Londonderry in the North and Donegal in the Republic. ‘At the minute there is no real problem, you can cross the border as free as you want. We could cross it six or eight times a day,’ said Crockett. ‘If there was any sort of obstruction it would slow down our work every day’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures John Murphy flies the European flag outside his home near the border village of Forkhill, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Potter Brenda McGinn stands outside her Mullan, Co Monaghan, studio – the former Jas Boylan shoe factory which was the main employer in the area until it shut down due to the Troubles. ‘When I came back, this would have been somewhere you would have driven through and have been quite sad. It was a decrepit looking village,’ said McGinn, whose Busy Bee Ceramics is one of a handful of enterprises restoring life to the community. ‘Now this is a revitalised, old hidden village’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Union Flag colours painted on kerbstones and bus-stops along the border village of Newbuildings, Co Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Grass reflected in Lattone Lough, which is split by the border between Cavan and Fermanagh, seen from near Ballinacor, Northern Ireland Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Donegalman David McClintock sits in the Border Cafe in the village of Muff, which straddles Donegal and Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An old Irish phone box stands alongside a bus stop in the border town of Glaslough, Co Monaghan Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Billboards are viewed from inside a disused customs hut in Carrickcarnon, Co Down, on the border with Co Louth in the Republic Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Seamus McQuaid takes packages that locals on the Irish side of the border have delivered to his business, McQuaid Auto-Parts, to save money on postal fees, near the Co Fermanagh village of Newtownbutler. ‘I live in the south but the business is in the North,’ said McQaid. "I wholesale into the Republic of Ireland so if there’s duty, I’ll have to set up a company 200 yards up the road to sell to my customers. I’ll have to bring the same product in through Dublin instead of Belfast’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A disused Great Northern Railway line and station that was for customs and excise on the border town of Glenfarne, Co Leitrim Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Alice Mullen, from Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland, does her shopping at a former customs post on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh. ‘I’d be very worried if it was a hard border, I remember when people were divided. I would be very afraid of the threat to the peace process, it was a dreadful time to live through. Even to go to mass on a Sunday, you’d have to go through checkpoints. It is terribly stressful,’ said Mullen. ‘All those barricades and boundaries were pulled down. I see it as a huge big exercise of trust and I do believe everyone breathed a sigh of relief’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A bus stop and red post box stand in the border town of Jonesborough, Co Armagh Reuters

Michel Barnier has repeatedly said that in the EU’s view the only way to maintain frictionless trade after Brexit would be for Britain to join a customs union with the EU and also follow the rules of the single market, including freedom of movement and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Theresa May has ruled out all these policies and at home appears to have little room for manoeuvre, with eurosceptics in her party already threatening to reject Chequers.