![Informal meeting of EU leaders in Salzburg](https://utterbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2018-09-20T140428Z_1_LYNXNPEE8J1J7_RTROPTP_2_EU-SUMMIT.jpg)
Substantial progress must be made on Brexit by October if a deal is to be struck in November, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday after leaders discussed a possible final Brexit summit for November. Merkel said British Prime Minister Theresa May’s so-called Chequers plan, hashed out at her country home in July, offered a good basis for negotiations but there was still a lot of work to do on the issue of future EU trade relations with Britain. “It was clear today that we need substantial progress by October and that we then aim to finalise everything in November,” Merkel told reporters at an informal European Union summit.