Brexit transition deal in 7 weeks, May says
Conservatives clash over some details such as the status of EU citizens
British Prime Minister Theresa May said yesterday that a Brexit transition period will be agreed with the European Union in seven weeks as she tries to ease concerns that a deal may take longer to reach.
The EU has offered Britain a status quo transition until the end of 2020 after Brexit. Both sides are aiming to reach a transition agreement by the end of March that will form part of the final withdrawal treaty to be agreed later this year. But there is disagreement inside May’s Conservative Party over some details such as the status of EU citizens during the transition and the scope of European Court of Justice jurisdiction.
Delay concerns
Many businesses and banks are concerned a battle over the terms of a transition could delay or even sink an agreement just months before Britain exits the EU on March 29, 2019.
“In seven weeks time, we will have an agreement with the European Union, that is the timetable they have said on an implementation period,” May told the BBC in an interview in China.
“What the British people voted for is for us to take back control of our money, A Scottish judge will decide early next week whether to refer to the European Court of Justice a case questioning if Britain alone can change its mind about leaving the European Union, a spokesman for Scotland’s Court of Session said yesterday.
The decision will be announced on Monday or Tuesday.
The case, brought by a group of pro-EU lawmakers, is aimed at giving Britain the possibility of staying in the world’s biggest trading bloc once it is known what Brexit actually means for the economy and politics.
Prime Minister Theresa May formally notified the EU of Britain’s intention to leave by triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on March 29 last year, starting a two-year exit process. our borders and our laws and that’s exactly what we are going to do,” May said of Brexit.
The EU and Britain hope to hammer out a deal on Britain’s exit and the outline of a trade package by October 2018.
But some EU officials have begun to voice concern that a plan to have the leaders endorse negotiating guidelines for a new phase of talks to begin in April on a future trade agreement may be in danger of slipping if May does not spell out what Britain’s demands are for that trade pact.