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During internal discussions in Brussels, several nations, including Hungary, Sweden and Ireland, lobbied for a more flexible approach to the length of the transition phase than the one finalized by diplomats this week, three people familiar with the talks said.
Privately, many EU officials believe the transition period will be prolonged as it becomes obvious to the U.K. government that the type of trade deal it wants will be difficult to reach within the the next three years.
If adjustments to the Brexit transition “timetable turn out to be required, I believe it would only be common sense to make them,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Thursday during a speech in Dublin.
The bloc’s conditions for the transition period, which are likely to be accepted almost wholesale by the British government, represent EU membership in all but name, with the country relinquishing the power to vote or influence decisions. While business would be pleased at the prospect of an extendable grace period that would give them time to prepare for the new regime, it would reignite fears among Brexit backers that the country isn’t really leaving the EU at all. [...]