The European Commission has announced it is recommending to the European Council that “sufficient progress” has been made in the first phase of Brexit talks.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission President, appeared alongside Theresa May this morning where he announced they had made the “breakthrough we needed.”

The Prime Minister said the Brexit deal was a “significant improvement” which had required give and take on both sides.

Theresa May and David Davis have arrived in Brussels to meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

The Prime Minister and her Brexit Secretary arrived at the Berlaymont shortly before 7am Brussels time (6am GMT) on Friday morning.
It comes after Mrs May tried to hammer out a Brexit agreement on maintaining a soft Irish border overnight, with the prime minister understood to be close on getting final sign-offs from Belfast, Dublin and Brussels.
In an apparent sign that a Brexit deal has been done, Mr Juncker’s head of cabinet Martin Selmayr tweeted a photograph of white smoke gushing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel – the traditional way of signalling that a new  Pope has been chosen.
Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, has told Sky News secured “six substantive changes” to the text on the Irish border.

source: telegraph.co.uk