The EU Commission said Friday that Brexit talks should move on to trade talks as "sufficient progress" had been made on the first stage covering divorce issues, following talks between British Prime Minister Theresa May and Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker.

"The European Commission has today recommended to the European Council (Article 50) to conclude that sufficient progress has been made in the first phase of the Article 50 negotiations with the United Kingdom," the commission, the bloc's executive arm, said in a statement.