The final act of the Brexit negotiations is upon us, with many questions still seemingly unresolved and the future relationship between the EU and the UK yet uncertain.

The EU remains unyielding on compromising the integrity of the single market, with the UK struggling to propose an agreement suitable both for the EU as well as its own nuanced internal political situation.

With the numbers delicately balanced in the UK’s House of Commons, whose MPs have to ratify the final deal, the subtlest shifts in positions and proposals have the potential to constitute serious stumbling blocks on the road to an agreement.

Joining Bruegel’s Maria Demertzis for this Director’s Cut of ‘The Sound of Economics’ is Robin Niblett, director of the Chatham House institute in London. Together they run through what has already been agreed, what sticking points remain to be got past, and how the two sides might yet reach a deal that suits them both.

For further reading, we recommend our blog post, written by Maria Demertzis and André Sapir, outlining the basic options for [the future relationship of the EU and the UK](http://bruegel.org/2017/12/brexit-phase-two-and-beyond-the-future-of-the-eu-uk-relationship/), how they might be negotiated upon, and which would suit each side the best.