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A UK position paper, shared with Brussels this week, contains no end date for the transition although British officials maintain it is their intention to set one.
The paper contradicts some key EU negotiating principles and raises the risk of failing to reach a transition deal before a March summit of EU leaders.
The most problematic UK request relates to vetting EU laws it is obliged to follow during the transition, even though it has lost its voice in the EU policymaking process.
Although the UK insists this “implementation period” would probably last about two years, its position paper calls for a potentially longer period to allow for preparations to be made for a future UK-EU trade relationship.
“The UK believes the [transition] period’s duration should be determined simply by how long it will take to prepare and implement the new processes and new systems that will underpin the future partnership,” the document states.
“The UK agrees this points to a period of around two years, but wishes to discuss with the EU the assessment that supports its proposed end date.”
[...]Downing Street insisted the paper did not represent a change to Theresa May’s position and that the prime minister still wanted a “strictly time limited period of around two years”. Mrs May’s spokesman argued that the paper was merely intended to provide some flexibility between the European Commission’s proposed end date of December 2020 and Britain’s proposal that the transition should conclude around March 2021.
Allies of the UK prime minister rejected suggestions that Britain might try to extend the transition, pointing out that it would be impossible to persuade Tory MPs to accept a deal that prolonged de facto EU membership beyond June 2022, the last possible date for a general election. [...]
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