David Davis says Britain ‘could live with’ shorter post-Brexit transition deal
3 min read
David Davis has said Britain would go along with EU wishes for a shorter post-Brexit transition period if it meant striking a deal with the bloc.
Brussels has called for the proposed arrangement to end in December 2020, rather than the March 2021 date the UK asked for, so that the transition concludes around the same time as the EU's seven-year budget cycle.
Ahead of a meeting with counterpart Michel Barnier early next week, the Brexit Secretary said the EU and the UK would establish a joint committee during the transition period to ensure a “duty of good faith” by both sides.
Mr Davis told the BBC he was currently focused on reaching an agreement on the implementation period at the EU summit in Brussels, which follows next Thursday.
"That is more important to me than a few months either way. So I'm not bothered too much about the question of whether it is Christmas 2020 or Easter 2021," he said
On the subject of the transition coming to an early end, he said: "I would live with that. We are still in the middle of a negotiation.
“Frankly what I would not do is delay the decision [on an implementation period] in order to get a month or two more."
Mr Davis suggested that the proposed timetable would prevent Britain from being treated as a “vassal state” – as was feared by hard-Brexiteers such as Jacob Rees-Mogg – given most EU laws take three months longer than the transition to pass.
"It is not going to be a big material issue. But we want to have in place, and we will have in place, is a joint committee which will oversee any issues like this that come up and a duty of good faith, good faith on both sides so neither side is disadvantaged,” he added.
“So we won't fall into Mr Rees-Mogg's interesting definition of our position."
His comments come as The Times reports that the EU have backed down on trying to stop Britain from negotiating and signing new trade deals during the implementation period - while the UK is still in the customs union and single market.
While Brussels has maintained publicly that Britain would not be unable to do so “unless authorised to do so by the union”, their position is said to have softened in a fresh draft of their guidelines.
The bloc is also said to have agreed that Britain can participate “in its own right” at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva so long as it does not contradict union policies.
The latest concession in the fragile talks between both sides comes after Theresa May announced that EU citizens arriving in Britain during the transition would be given largely the same rights as those who arrived before.
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