UK Brexit Secretary on 'serious' discussions with Barnier

Barclay said that the two sides' technical teams would meet next week, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson was due to meet European Union Council President Donald Tusk at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Brussels:Britain's Brexit Secretary, Stephen Barclay, expressed slight optimism after the European Union and UK negotiators' meeting overrun on Friday in Brussels.

Barclay was upbeat, saying the meeting had overrun a sign of progress.

"There's a common purpose both in Dublin, in London and here in Brussels to see a deal over the line," he said. "We were getting into the detail," he added.

Barclay said that the two sides' technical teams would meet next week, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson was due to meet EU Council President Donald Tusk at the UN General Assembly in New York.

But the commission cautioned that "it is essential that there is a fully workable and legally operational solution" included in the legally binding Brexit divorce agreement.