U.K., EU discuss longer transition to ease Brexit

BRUSSELS•U.K.andEuropean Union officials are discussing a new proposal to solve the last major hurdle in Brexit talks and soothe the concerns of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Northern Irish allies, according to diplomats familiar with the situation.

Talks are stuck on the issue of the Irish border and a guarantee, or so-called backstop clause, which is proving impossible for May’s allies at home to accept.

The new proposal is to allow for the transition — the 21-month grace period that’s due to kick in after Brexit day — to be extended if needed. That would take the sting out of the Irish backstop by making it less likely that it would ever be invoked.

The U.K. government had no immediate comment.

May is closing in on a Brexit deal but her compromise over the Irish border is alienating two key groups she needs to keep onside. Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party objects to the Irish border solution as it will erect some barriers between the province and the rest of the U.K. Hardline Brexiteers object to it because it risks keeping the U.K. tied to EU rules indefinitely.

The trouble with the new proposal is that while it would calm the fears of the DUP — which props up May’s government — it risks enraging pro-Brexit members of her party who only reluctantly agreed to any kind of transition in the first place.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, who leads a group of pro-Brexit lawmakers, said extending transition would be an “expensive mistake,” as it would tip the U.K. into contributing to the next seven-year cycle of the EU budget. Still, his language was less forceful than usual: He has described transition as a form of “purgatory” that turns the U.K. into a “vassal state.”

Under current plans, the transition is to last 21 months after the U.K.’s departure from the bloc in March. It effectively keeps the country as a member of the EU in all but name but strips the U.K. of influence over decisionmaking. It is designed to give business some stability while the two sides negotiate a broader agreement on economic and trading relations.

Negotiators are aiming to have an outline deal by next week so that leaders can sign off on a divorce treaty in midNovember. But May briefed her cabinet on Thursday and Brexiteers were not pleased. At least one is considering resigning, according to people familiar with the situation.

It is unclear if negotiators are considering specifying the length of the transition extension or just refer to the possibility of prolongation in future. The diplomats also cautioned that it is only one of several ideas under consideration to unblock talks.