Britain's May seeks to cut deal on future EU ties in Brussels

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May arrives in Brussels on Wednesday to attempt to agree a blueprint of Britain’s post-Brexit ties with the European Union, which the bloc’s diplomats said was being held up by disagreements over Gibraltar, fisheries and trade.

All EU leaders are due to meet on Sunday to rubber-stamp the Brexit deal, consisting of Britain’s withdrawal agreement and an outline of the two sides’ new relationship after Britain exits the EU.

The fate of the withdrawal accord is uncertain. British lawmakers are stepping up a fight over the terms of departure, with some trying to open the way for the country to change course.

While the EU is trying to discourage Britain from any renegotiation of the nearly 600 pages of dense legal text that forms the divorce deal, some of the remaining 27 member states also have issues with it.

Attempting to address those issues in ongoing talks on the document that will outline future ties, national EU envoys of the 27 states met on Brussels in Tuesday.

Still some work is needed on three aspects: fish, goods and Gibraltar,” one diplomat said of the meeting, held on the eve of May’s talks with Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the EU’s executive. “Juncker and May will try to sort it out tomorrow.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday threatened to vote against the overall Brexit accord on Sunday unless it makes clear that the future of the disputed British territory of Gibraltar would be settled through direct talks between Madrid and London.

“Spain does have a very real problem on Gibraltar,” said another diplomat.

Many in the EU’s political hub Brussels said they thought Sanchez was trying to score points with voters at home before a looming domestic election.