THERESA May failed to come up with any fresh suggestions to move forward the stalled Brexit talks when she met EU leaders last night.

Ahead of the summit, the European Council president Donald Tusk said the Prime Minister must have “concrete proposals” to bring to the meeting if there was to be progress.

But May did not present any new ideas when she addressed the EU leaders in a 20-minute meeting.

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Citing comments made by Antonio Tajani, the president of he European Parliament, the BBC’s Europe editor Katya Adler, tweeted: “EU summit host Donald Tusk asked Theresa May to come here with ‘new ideas’. She’s just spoken to EU leaders.

“This was the reaction of the president of the European Parliament: ‘I did not perceive anything substantially new in terms of content as I listened to Mrs May.’”

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The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said more time was needed to secure an exit deal for the UK, and that officials would work calmly and patiently in the coming weeks.

He told reporters: “We have worked a lot for the past few weeks and days, and nights also with the British delegations, to reach a global agreement for the Withdrawal Agreement and the political declaration. We are not there yet ... we need time, we need much more time. We will continue the work in the next weeks calmly and patiently.”

Talks have been deadlocked essentially over proposals to prevent a hard border in Ireland.

The EU wants a back stop – in the absence of any other plans – to ensure there is no need for new infrastructure and checks between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. It wants Northern Ireland to be able to stay in the single market and customs union.

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But May will not accept the arrangement, arguing it would mean more checks on goods moving between Britain and Northern Ireland.

She has suggested keeping the whole of the UK in the customs union for a temporary period – but this is not acceptable to the EU who want the arrangement to be indefinite.

Arriving in Brussels, May said she believed a Brexit deal is still possible.

The Prime Minister did not answer a question about whether she had brought the “creative” new proposal that Tusk has asked for, instead sticking to a rehearsed line that a deal could be done and that it was in the EU’s interest to reach one.

“What we’ve seen is that we’ve solved most of the issues in the Withdrawal Agreement. There is still the question of the Northern Irish backstop,” she told reporters.

“By working intensively and closely, we can achieve that deal,” May added. “Now is the time to make it happen.”

In her 20-minute address to EU leaders later she said “courage, trust and leadership” will be needed on both sides to achieve a Brexit deal.

May also stressed that significant progress had been made in many areas of the negotiations and urged them to find a “creative” way out of the current dilemma.

“We have shown we can do difficult deals together constructively,” the PM said. “I remain confident of a good outcome.”

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And she told them: “The last stage will need courage, trust and leadership on both sides.”

Following her comments, May left for a fish dinner at the UK ambassador’s residence, leaving the EU leaders to discuss Brexit in her absence over pan-fried mushrooms, turbot cooked in wheat beer and a trio of fig, pear and grape sorbets.

There is a growing sense of impatience among European Union leaders who have signalled they were ready to listen to May, but who are also preparing to discuss plans for Britain crashing out of the bloc in March without a deal.

Many suggested the core problem was the Prime Minister’s inability to rally her feuding party around a workable set of negotiating demands.

Before flying to the summit German Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed the tougher tone coming from the 27 other governments and said European leaders must prepare for all outcomes: “That includes the possibility that Britain leaves the European Union without a deal,” she said.

French president Emmanuel Macron said May could help by explaining what her precarious domestic situation would allow her to accept: “Theresa May must tell us what she can possibly accept considering the political balance,” he told reporters.

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar reiterated the EU’s position on the backstop, which he said must be legally operable and would prevent a hard border emerging.

He added: “We can’t have an expiry date, it can only be temporary unless and until we have an alternative agreement that also ensures us that there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland.

“That’s what we agreed in writing with the European Union and the United Kingdom back in March so this is not just an issue of substance, it’s also an issue of trust.”

He signalled his support for extending the transition period following reports Barnier was open to pushing the implementation period back to end in December 2021.

Varadkar said negotiating a new economic and security relationship within two years would be a “real challenge”.