UK accuses EU of bad faith over Brexit transition plan

LONDON: A senior British minister on Thursday accused the European Union of acting in bad faith over a plan to sanction London if it breaks the rules of the post-Brexit transition period.

“What we’re about is building an implementation period, which is to build a bridge to a future where we work well together,” said Brexit minister David Davis.

“And I do not think it was in good faith to publish a document with frankly discourteous language, and actually implying that they could arbitrarily terminate, in effect, the implementation period. That’s not what the aim of this exercise is, it’s not in good faith, and we think it’s unwise to publish that.”

Britain and the EU began talks this week on plans for a two-year transition period after Brexit, during which London must follow all EU laws without having any decision-making powers, in exchange for frictionless access to the single market.

A draft EU agreement published on Wednesday calls for the ability to sanction Britain in cases in which it would take too long to refer any breach of those rules to the EU’s top court.

That could include reimposing tariffs or customs checks, both of which Britain is supposed to be free of as a member of the EU internal market during the transition to December 2020.