World Bulletin / News Desk

EU leaders will press British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday to do more to reach a divorce deal against the backdrop of a summit to launch reforms for the bloc's post-Brexit survival.

May will hold talks with EU President Donald Tusk and her Irish and Swedish counterparts as a deadline looms for Britain to make enough progress to move on to trade talks in December.

"Tusk will inform May that such a positive scenario is not a given, will require more work and that time is short," an EU source told AFP of the meeting at 1130 GMT. 

Former Polish premier Tusk "will ask May how the UK plans to progress" on key issues before negotiations can advance to the next phase, which includes post-Brexit trade ties and a transition period.

The EU demands that Britain makes sufficient progress on its exit bill, on avoiding a hard border between the British province of Northern Ireland and the EU state of Ireland, and on the rights of three million EU citizens living in Britain.

EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned last week that Britain had two weeks to meet the bloc's conditions if it wanted an agreement at the next EU summit in Brussels in December.

Failure to do so would push back a decision until February or March, leaving little time for trade talks before Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019.