UK, EU to take time to get Brexit right!

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May addresses the House of Commons, London, with an update on the latest developments in the Brexit negotiations.

• A deal must be sealed soon so parliaments have time to give their verdict on it.

Leaders from the European Union and Britain shrugged off a weekend negotiating debacle and previous deadlines on Wednesday, giving themselves several more weeks to clinch a friendly divorce deal ahead of their separation.

After the EU insisted for months that the Wednesday summit was a key meeting to get a deal, its Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said "we need much time, much more time and we [will] continue to work in the next weeks" with his British counterpart.British Prime Minister Theresa May also spoke about "working intensively over the next days and weeks" to achieve agreement that avoids a no-deal departure from the bloc on March 29 that could create chaos at the borders and in the economy. A deal must be sealed soon so parliaments have time to give their verdict on it.

Underscoring the newfound sense of non-urgency, Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz of Austria, which holds the rotating EU presidency, even spoke of the "coming weeks and months" to get a deal and sought to impose a soothing calm.