The European Commission has just formally decided to recommend to the European Council that sufficient progress has now been made on Brexit, president of the Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said during a press conference in Brussels.

“The decision on sufficient progress will be in the hands of the 27 Heads of State or Government. I am hopeful, sure, confident – sure – that they will share our appraisal and allow us to move on to the next phase of the negotiations,” Juncker said.

London and Brussels could not achieve a common opinion on a number of key points for several months.

On the eve of the EU, the British government was given time until the end of this week to reach the first compromise agreements on Brexit, scheduled for 2019. The development of a comprehensive treaty that will settle controversial issues between the EU and UK continues from June 2017.