May asks for two-year transition after Brexit
PM aims to get talks back on track, but angers critics who want to quit EU sooner
FLORENCE, ITALY— Britain is prepared to abide by European Union rules and pay into the bloc’s coffers for two years after leaving the EU in March 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May said Friday in a conciliatory speech intended to revive foundering exit talks.
The proposal got a positive, if muted, reception from the EU’s chief negotiator. However, it raised hackles among pro-Brexit U.K. politicians, who accused May of delaying a divorce that is sought by a majority of British voters.
May travelled to Florence — birthplace of the Renaissance — in hopes of rebooting negotiations with the EU that have stalled over issues including the price the U.K. must pay to leave and the rights of EU citizens in Britain.
May’s speech was intended to kickstart the process before talks resume next week in Brussels. But while it was strong on praise for the EU and for shared European values, the few concrete details were far from addressing Brussels’ concerns.
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said the speech showed a “constructive spirit,” but “must be translated into negotiating positions” to make real progress.
May said Britain and the EU share “a profound sense of responsibility” to ensure that their parting goes smoothly.
She urged the EU to be “creative” and forge a new economic relationship not based on any current trade model. She rejected both a free-trade deal such as the one Canada has struck with the bloc and Norwaystyle membership in the EU’s single market.
She called instead for “an ambitious economic partnership which respects the freedoms and principles of the EU and the wishes of the British people.”
May proposed a transition period of “around two years” after Britain leaves the EU for the two sides to work out the kinks in the final Brexit deal.
“People and businesses — both in the U.K. and in the EU — would benefit from a period to adjust to the new arrangements in a smooth and orderly way,” she said.
May also signalled willingness to pay a Brexit bill for leaving, saying Britain “will honour commitments we have made.”
She reassured EU members that they would not “need to pay more or receive less over the remainder of the current budget plan as a result of our decision to leave.” The current EU budget runs until 2020.
May did not cite a figure, and said “some of the claims made on this issue are exaggerated and unhelpful.” Reports of the amount the EU is seeking have gone as high as $120 billion.
May also called for a new security treaty between Britain and the EU, saying close co-operation is key to fighting crime, terrorism and military threats.
Britain is eager to begin hammering out future trade and security relationships, but EU officials say that can’t happen until there’s progress on three key divorce terms — the status of the border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland, the financial settlement and the rights of more than four million EU and British citizens hit by Brexit.
In Britain, May’s speech drew criticism from her opponents both to the right and the left.
Former U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, a passionate euroskeptic, said it suggested Britain would leave the EU “in name only.”
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the transition period, but said that “15 months after the EU referendum the government is still no clearer about what our long-term relationship with the EU will look like.”