EU member states have warned that a Brexit deal hinges on agreement in Theresa May’s cabinet, as they gathered in Brussels on Monday to be updated on the latest news in talks.

Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders told reporters outside the council meeting the EU was “waiting for new news from London”, adding: “We have time, but not so much.”

France’s EU affairs minister, Nathalie Loiseau echoed the sentiment, telling reporters on the way into the gathering: “The ball is in the British court. It is a question of a British political decision.”

Downing Street last week said the cabinet needed more time to come to an agreement despite a long meeting last week. But an emergency session called for today to discuss the deal has been cancelled, suggesting a common UK government position is still some way off.

Asked about whether a deal would be struck, Ms Loiseau added: “I have no crystal ball unfortunately. We are determined, we are committed to find a good deal. We know that it is better than a no-deal.”

Speaking on his way into the same meeting Germany’s EU affairs minister Michael Roth warned that “the clock is ticking”.

“The room for manoeuvre is very much limited and our British friends know exactly where our discussions are,” he said.

The ball is in the British court. It is a question of a British political decision Nathalie Loiseau, French EU affairs minister

Austrian EU affairs minister Gernot Blumel told waiting press there was “a certain dynamic in the negotiations, but it is too early to say how we are going to proceed on that”.

Austria holds the EU council’s rotating presidency and has been coordinating meetings between member states and the Europe Commission.

Though member states are regularly updated on progress, they are not present at the coal-face of talks with Britain and rely on the commission for information.

Member states were updated by commission chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Monday’s meeting about the current state of talks, with the prognosis understood to be that there has been no breakthrough.

In a statement the council presidency said: “The commission’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, informed the EU27 ministers of the situation following negotiations with the UK over the last few weeks.

“Michel Barnier explained that intense negotiating efforts continue, but an agreement has not been reached yet. Some key issues remain under discussion, in particular a solution to avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.”

Both sides want a deal in November, with the original October deadline having slipped. The EU has repeatedly said December will be too late to ratify the deal before the UK is set to drop out of the bloc on 29 March 2019.

Disagreements in negotiations are centred on the issue of Northern Ireland, and how to prevent a hard border from appearing with the Republic of Ireland after Brexit. Though officials are in a communications “tunnel” and reliable information is hard to come by, the EU appears to have agreed to British demands to keep the whole UK inside a temporary customs union to help prevent a hard border.

Nathalie Loiseau, France’s EU affairs minister, on the doorstep of the meeting (EbS)

This UK demand was borne of an unwillingness to see just Northern Ireland kept inside the trade agreement, an approach the Northern Irish unionists who prop up Theresa May’s government have rejected outright as a breach of sovereignty.

But Brexiteers in the British cabinet are worried that such a “temporary” customs union might become permanent if no other solution to the border is found.

The UK has therefore also asked for some kind of review mechanism or time-limit to assuage the Tory ministers – a demand that is proving difficult to square with the EU’s insistence that the backstop must prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland whatever the circumstances. The UK government also signed up to this commitment in writing in December and March.

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

EU officials also want the UK to sign up to a series of “level playingfield” conditions – such as maintaining workers’ rights and environmental standards – if they want to stay inside the customs union, so that EU businesses cannot be undercut by laissez faire practices. These, too, are controversial in the Cabinet, because some right-wing MPs see Brexit as an opportunity to strip out regulations.

It is unclear whether the proposed UK-wide backstop would even placate Northern Irish unionists, as it would be unlikely to eliminate all regulatory checks across the Irish sea, notable on animal products. The DUP has said they would not accept such checks and vote against any deal that included them.