The United Kingdom is running short of time to reach a full deal with the European Union (EU) and should consider seeking an extension of next year’s withdrawal deadline in order to complete the work, the UK Parliament’s cross-party Brexit committee said.
The UK-EU talks are due to end by October, the deadline set by both sides, with Britain leaving the bloc at the end of next March.
The committee said that if substantial aspects of the future partnership remain unresolved at that time, the government should seek more time to ensure an agreement “sufficiently detailed and comprehensive” can be reached.
“In the short time that remains, it is difficult to see how it will be possible to negotiate a full, bespoke trade and market-access agreement, along with a range of other agreements,” including on the Irish border, the committee said in a report released last Sunday.
The proposed transition period set to start after the mandatory March 29, 2019, exit should also be capable of being extended, if necessary, the committee recommended.
Under EU rules, countries seeking to exit the bloc have two years to work out details after formal notification.
The UK is the first government to invoke the so-called Article 50 process.
‘Critical stage’
“We are now at a critical stage in the negotiations, with just seven months left to reach agreement on a whole host of highly complex issues,” said Hilary Benn, a Labour party member and panel chairman. “While the committee welcomes the progress that has been made in some areas, the government faces a huge task” when the next phase of talks begin.
The committee also said “little progress” has been made on a solution to maintain an open border between Ireland in the EU and Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, without instituting checks or adding physical infrastructure if the UK leaves the customs union and single market.
“The government must now come forward with credible, detailed proposals as to how it can operate a ‘frictionless border’ between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland because at the moment, the committee is not persuaded that this can be done at the same time as the UK is leaving the single market and the customs union,” Benn said.
UK Brexit Secretary David Davis will meet the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels on Monday.
A summit of EU leaders starts on Thursday. Davis has predicted a deal on a transition period will be finalized next week.
Brexit starting to strain Europe’s united front
National interests are starting to test the united front that the 27 remaining European Union members have shown so far during the Brexit talks, according to three people with knowledge of the process.
Less than a week before EU leaders meet to consider a transition deal for the UK, their officials have aired their differences over the way forward, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private talks.
At issue is whether to add language on specific industries—and addressing the concerns of specific countries—to their mandate for Barnier.
At a meeting in Brussels last week, Spain—whose national airline Iberia is owned by the same company as British Airways—signaled it would like specific references to aviation, while Luxembourg wants more detail on financial services.
Fisheries and agriculture could also be given more detail.
But other countries believe the guidelines should remain broad to facilitate unity and give Barnier flexibility as the British government’s position evolves. They also want to avoid accusations of “cherry picking”—a charge the EU-27 have frequently leveled at the UK.
British efforts to create divisions between the remaining countries have yielded few returns so far, despite ministers’ frequent trips to national capitals. Yet, as the negotiations shift toward the two sides’ future partnership, European diplomats acknowledge that national interests will diverge and a common position will be more difficult to maintain.
A press officer at the Spanish Foreign Ministry wasn’t immediately able to comment. A spokesman for the Luxembourg government didn’t immediately respond when contacted by Bloomberg News.
Draft EU guidelines for the next phase of negotiations were published earlier this month and will form the basis of the statement EU leaders will release after their summit next Friday.
A fresh version was circulated to capitals late last Friday to reflect ambassadors’ discussions at their meeting last Thursday. While there were minor alterations, there was no addition of the greater details wanted by some countries, an official said.
Representatives from national governments—the so-called sherpas—will cast their eyes over the draft on Monday before EU affairs ministers do the same on Tuesday.