EU to link progress on Brexit trade talks to divorce pledges

The European Union will make progress on future trade talks with Britain contingent on the implementation of London's Brexit divorce pledges, according to an EU source.

A draft statement prepared for a summit of EU leaders this week has been "Davis-proofed," a senior EU official says, after Britain's chief Brexit negotiator David Davis described a deal reached with Brussels on Friday as a mere "statement of intent."

EU leaders will agree that "negotiations in the second phase can only progress as long as all commitments undertaken during the first phase are respected in full and translated faithfully into legal terms," according to the official.

Davis has meanwhile pledged to work with the EU on making Britain's divorce pledges legally binding.