We should not have been surprised by the delays – in Brussels, nothing important ever gets decided until the last minute

In more than 15 years of attending Brussels summits, I have repeatedly seen schedules torn up and leaders emerging from talks, bleary-eyed, in the early hours, writes Andrew Woodcock

Ursula von der Leyen has been negotiating with Boris Johnson for what seems like an eternity (AP)

Lou Reed was talking about junkies and their dealers in 1970s New York, but he could just have easily been thinking about journalists covering the Brexit negotiations when he sang: “First thing you learn is that you’ve always got to wait.”

In more than 15 years of attending Brussels summits, I’ve become used to the fact that nothing important gets decided until the last minute – and there are no limits to how long that last minute can be delayed.

Time after time, schedules have been torn up and leaders have squabbled through the night before emerging, bleary-eyed in the early hours, for hurried press conferences to announce whatever deal they have managed to strike.