Europe nervous about Brexit

BREXIT negotiations are due to resume this week under quite changed circumstances. The European Union (EU) negotiating team, which purports to represent the 27 nations that will be left in the union after the UK leaves, is sticking to three preliminary agreements before it will start to discuss post-Brexit arrangements with the UK. These are:

The rights of EU citizens already in the UK and UK citizens already in the EU. Effectively, these have been guaranteed on both sides and the only sticking point is the jurisdiction in the event of dispute. The EU is requiring that its citizens in the UK have access to the EU Court of Human Rights. The UK is pointing out that EU courts will not have any jurisdiction in the UK after Brexit. Seems simple, but this will keep politicians talking for a while. Definitely soluble when people get off their high horses.

The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The UK wants this to stay open, but with obvious enhanced security measures on the movement of EU nationals. Nobody outside the political community sees a problem, so soluble.