As to the financial settlement, Barnier said the two sides "must now work on the precise translation of the commitments made in her speech in Florence by the British Prime Minister", calling it as an imperative condition to achieve sufficient progress in December.

"On this subject, I repeat that it is only, as in any separation, to settle the account," he warned.

AGITATED DAVIS, CALM BARNIER

Davis arrived in Brussels Friday with mounting pressure. The British Cabinet led by Prime Minister Theresa May, in which he is a member, has lost two key secretaries recently. At the moment of midway point, the cabinet is anything but a united front to confront EU in the Brexit talks.

The pressure also came in from the other side of the Channel.

Shortly after the starting of the sixth round talks, Brussels issued its economic forecasts, predicting that Britain's growth will fall to 1.1 per cent in 2019 after Brexit, only marginally ahead of Italy and far behind the 1.9 per cent growth predicted for the euro area. The commission has also lowered its forecast for growth in Britain in 2017 compared with its last set of figures in May.

In addition, prior to the latest round of talks, rumors had been circulating on local media that EU gave Britain a two-week deadline on Brexit divorce bill.

And it turned true Friday as Barnier confirmed the report -- with a short and affirmative "Yes"-- during the joint press conference.

【国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Brexit in midway but breakthrough still far away】相关文章：

★ 土耳其迫使叙利亚客机降落搜缴“违禁货物”

★ 双语资讯：台湾外海发生6.6级地震

★ 奥运给北京树起新地标

★ QE3问答

★ 亚洲企业债市场在壮大

★ 巴基斯坦女运动员：参加奥运就是梦想成真

★ 今年过节流行送2012诺亚方舟船票

★ BAE与EADS联姻告吹

★ 奥巴马获胜对美国商界有何影响？

★ 伦敦英国白人不再占多数