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As Johnson sat down for lunch with Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, a No 10 spokesman poured cold water on the idea that the UK might be prepared to accept a longer transition period to help reduce the need for a backstop.
“In the event we were able to secure a deal, there is no intention to extend the implementation period beyond December 2020,” Johnson’s spokesman said.
The idea of a longer transition period had been raised by Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, who said on Sunday that Britain could stay in the transition arrangement until the end of 2022 and potentially allow ministers to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
Barclay had said: “It is the case that operationally these issues do not apply until the end of the implementation period, which is December 2020 or one or two years later by mutual agreement.”
However, No 10 was adamant this was not the plan and Johnson would stick to the current December 2020 plan for transition if he managed to get a deal at the mid-October EU summit – just two weeks before the UK is due to leave the bloc.
If no deal is struck, Johnson is mandated by a new law to ask for a three-month extension to Britain’s EU membership, but his spokesman would not be drawn on whether he accepted this would happen. [...]