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Article snippet: Britain and the European Union on Friday cleared the way to start a crucial new round of talks on British withdrawal from the bloc, announcing a breakthrough after months of deadlock, an internal political standoff in London and a dispute over the future of the Irish border. Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain made a predawn flight to Brussels to make the announcement with Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, after she wrapped up tough negotiations with the small Northern Irish party on which her government depends. The accord still needs the approval of European Union leaders, but Mrs. May apparently convinced negotiators that enough progress had been made in talks on Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc to move on to a new phase of difficult negotiations early next year. The accord, a rare step forward in the nearly nine months since Britain formally announced that it would leave the bloc, contains a series of British concessions that should allow the start of negotiations on future trade relations with the bloc, as well as on a period of transition for the time immediately after Britain’s scheduled departure in March 2019, during which a full trade agreement can ideally be worked out. Mrs. May came back to Brussels after a week of negotiations in London with the Democratic Unionist Party, led by Arlene Foster, over language to rule out a so-called hard border between Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland... Link to the full article to read more