10:57

Angela Merkel has reaffirmed that Brexit negotiations could move onto trade by the end of the year, in remarks that could bolster the position of Theresa May.

December is the crunch deadline when EU leaders will judge whether the UK has made “sufficient progress” on the divorce issues that will allow Brexit talks to progress to trade. The EU’s 27 leaders are expected to announce on Friday they will launch internal discussions on the future relationship with the UK, without the participation of the British government.

Arriving at the summit, the German chancellor said there were “encouraging” signs that talks on trade could begin after the next EU summit in December, putting her seal of approval on the established EU position.

The upbeat tone was echoed by Luxembourg’s prime minister Xavier Bettel. He said:

We were friends, we are friends and we still will be friends. I am sure we will find an agreement.

He noted the change in tone between May’s speeches, including her latest outreach to EU citizens. “Times change and even Theresa May’s Facebook post went in the right direction.”

French president Emmanuel Macron chose to emphasise the unity of the EU27, as he arrived at the summit. He said EU’s unity was “very strong on Brexit”, adding that “we are all united behind one same negotiator Michel Barnier”.

Shortly before the summit began, footage showed the British prime minister in earnest conversation with Merkel and Macron.

The prime minister has repeatedly attempted to go over the heads of the EU’s Brexit negotiators, by appealing to European leaders to jump start the talks. Earlier this week, Downing Street tacitly admitted this gambit had failed when it signed up to a joint Brussels statement that “both sides agreed that [Brexit] would be discussed in the “framework agreed between the EU27 and the United Kingdom”.

Finland’s prime minister Juha Sipilӓ said he hoped to see progress onto trade in December, once the three divorce issues (EU citizens’ rights, money and Ireland) had been resolved. He said:

Of course we are a little bit frustrated about the progress but hopefully we can be in that position [to discuss trade] in December.

Asked whether the EU should plan for a no-deal Brexit, he said: “Not yet”.