Members worry EU will bend as Brexit talks run out of road

EU member states on Tuesday warned European negotiators not to lose their nerve in negotiations with Britain, in a rare reproach as post-Brexit talks entered their most delicate phase.

Negotiations in London towards an EU-UK deal are deadlocked -- with some in Brussels now seeing Thursday as a last chance to decide whether a deal is possible before January 1, when Britain will no longer be bound by EU rules.

Failure to clinch a deal would cause deep economic disruption between the two sides, and pressure is high to finalise a zero tariffs, zero quotas accord, especially given the problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the clock ticking, the UK government on Tuesday said there was "no time to lose" for businesses to get ready for the end of the transition period with deep changes in store even with a deal.

In an unusual development, EU diplomats expressed concern that the negotiating team led by Michel Barnier was under too much pressure to sign a deal, and at risk of caving in on long-held principles.

The comments were a rare display of disunity on the European side, which has kept a more-or-less united front since Britain voted to leave the EU in a referendum four years...