The European Commission has announced that "sufficient progress" has been made in the first phase of Brexit talks.

The announcement came after Theresa May and David Davis made an early-hours journey to Brussels to meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

It followed talks which continued into the early hours between the Prime Minister and Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster whose party scuppered a deal at the eleventh hour on Monday.

Mrs. Foster said that "substantial changes" to the text rejected on Monday would mean there was "no red line down the Irish Sea" in the form of a customs barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

“There have been changes throughout the text and indeed we believe there have been six substantive changes and we are pleased to see those changes because for me it means there is no red line down the Irish sea and we have very clear confirmation that the entirety of the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union, leaving the single market, leaving the customs union,” said the Fermanagh-south Tyrone MLA in an interview.

“It's not perfect from our perspective, we think it's much improved from Monday but there are still issues that need sorted out. As I understand it the prime minister believes there is enough to move to phase two, we will make sure that we keep the interests of Northern Ireland and in particular the UK in general to the fore in phase two,” said Mrs. Foster.

Mr. Juncker said that the decision on whether to move forward to talks on trade and the transition to a post-Brexit relationship was in the hands of the leaders of the 27 other EU nations, meeting in Brussels at a European Council summit on Thursday, but said he was "confident" they would do so.

The Commission president said: "I will always be sad about this development, but now we must start looking to the future, a future in which the UK will remain a close friend and ally."
Mrs. May said that intensive talks over the past few days had delivered "a hard-won agreement in all our interests".
The Prime Minister said that the agreement would guarantee the rights of three million EU citizens in the UK "enshrined in UK law and enforced by British courts".
She said that it included a financial settlement which was "fair to the British taxpayer" and a guarantee that there will be "no hard border" between Northern Ireland and the Republic, preserving the "constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom".