Senior EU sources said neither eurocrats nor Member States have yet accepted the PM’s request for Brexit to be added to the agenda in Salzburg.
Downing Street insists Austrian leader Sebastian Kurz, who is hosting the summit, has already agreed Brexit will be discussed as a leading item.
However, The Sun understands the Chancellor did not make a cast iron promise and that EU Council chief Donald Tusk also remains undecided.
British officials see the informal meeting on September 20 as the ideal opportunity for Mrs May to sell her Chequers vision directly to leaders.
EU sources said neither France nor Germany have a “clear idea” what level of detail a planned framework for a trade deal should include, creating an opening for the UK.
But an EU ambassador told The Sun all the bloc’s leaders would be unimpressed if the PM doesn’t bring something fresh to the table to break new ground.
They said: “The suggestion was done by the British side. It has not been commented on by Mr Tusk nor by any other EU leader.
“Kurz has not accepted that at all or acknowledged it, he just took note of this wish by the British prime minister.
“We don’t know what we should be discussing in Salzburg. We haven’t got a clue because there’s nothing on the table. It’s not on the agenda.
The ambassador questioned why the PM would want to make a personal plea to leaders unless she has something new to say.
However, the top diplomat added EU attitudes might change if the PM comes up with a new way to break the deadlock when talks resume later this month.
A second source said leaders had been led to “informally assume that Brexit will be discussed somehow or other” at the summit, but nothing has been decided.
Irish Taioseach Leo Varadkar has been pushing for the negotiations to be brought up in Salzburg in the hope direct talks might help solve the border issue.
Last month he told the Irish parliament: “It’s definitely an option, it is definitely a possibility and if it makes sense we will do it.”
But EU Council chief Mr Tusk, who is responsible for deciding what will be discussed at the meeting, has not yet weighed in.
A Council official told The Sun: “Nothing has been decided yet. The agenda is only expected to be determined at the beginning of September.”
UK officials said they stood by their assertion Mr Kurz “confirmed” to the PM that Brexit would be added to the Salzburg agenda.
Downing Street insisted the Austrian leader had made the pledge at a meeting with Mrs May on July 27.
Salz and vinegar
When Liam Fox described the EU and the Continent’s political leaders as “intransigent” at the weekend, they hopped up and down with righteous indignation at the supposed insult.
One European Commission official whined that they were working “24/7” to do a deal with Britain.
Well, unless they play ball before the vital Austrian meeting, our Trade Secretary will be proved dead right.
They’re hoping that if they keep Brexit off the agenda, the Prime Minister will concede even more than she already has, turning her Chequers fudge into a Belgian waffle.
The PM’s response should be short and sweet. Non, nein, nej.
It may be a pain for Border Force staff that planning for a “No Deal” Brexit means they’re not going to be allowed to book holidays next spring but it’s vital.
The Prime Minister should have come up with a concrete plan long ago.
But now she has, if Brussels and EU leaders don’t want to listen, then her only course of action is to step up planning for a clean break.
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