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May said she would seek a two-year transition period after Brexit, during which the current rules and market access would apply. In a speech that marked a softening in her stance, she left unclear what role would be given to the ECJ, an organization that is loathed by Brexit supporters as a symbol of lost sovereignty.
“In 2019 we will leave, we’ll come out from under the jurisdiction and the lawmaking of the European Union,” Davis will say on the BBC’s “Andrew Marr Show,” according to a partial transcript released via the Press Association. [...]
Just a day after May’s speech offered a way to unblock the stalemate in talks, divisions in her Cabinet emerged again over the shape of Brexit. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson -- who last week appeared to be on the brink of resigning -- has demanded assurances from May since her speech, according to the Telegraph, a newspaper he used to write for. The Cabinet remained divided as to the length of the transition at a meeting on Thursday, the Sunday Times reported.
Davis acknowledged that the U.K. would pay “roughly” 10 billion pounds ($13.5 billion) a year into the EU budget during the transition period. But he took a tougher line than May, saying that the final bill, including matters for pension liabilities, would be a matter for negotiation and will still be challenged by the U.K.
“Things like pensions and other things, these are debatable to say the least,” he said. “The last time we went through line by line and challenged quite a lot of the legal basis of these things, and we’ll continue to do that. That doesn’t mean that we want to see our allies and friends in Europe massively disadvantaged in the next few years, and that’s what we’re aiming not to do.”
Davis rejected claims the final bill could amount to 40 billion pounds, yet refused to name a sum. “We have a fairly clear idea where we’re going on this,” he said.
The Brexit Secretary also said that while May on Friday offered more legal protections than she had previously for EU nationals residing in the U.K. -- saying British courts would take account of relevant European judgments -- that didn’t mean they would be able to enforce their rights through the ECJ, as the EU has been demanding.
“The aim with the withdrawal treaty will be to have British citizens in Europe and European citizens in Britain treated broadly similarly,” he said. “We are not under any circumstances going to be accepting the overarching supremacy of the European Court. That’s going.” [...]