EU Warns That Brexit Transition Remains at Risk Until Talks End

(Bloomberg) -- European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told the U.K. that even if there's a deal this month on the transition period that businesses crave, it's still at risk of unraveling until a full agreement on the exit is approved in 2019.

“Certainty about the transition will only come at the end of the process,” which will be “probably early next year,” Barnier told an audience of business leaders on Thursday in Brussels.

Prime Minister Theresa May is keen to get the EU to sign up to a transition phase at a summit of leaders later this month so that companies know they can continue to operate as usual in the immediate aftermath of Brexit day in March 2019. The grace period is intended to give companies time to adjust to the post-Brexit regime, and the U.K. hopes it will be enough to stop companies relocating to the continent.

The two sides disagree over the period's duration and its exact terms. The EU says the phase should last until the end of 2020 while the U.K. has suggested it should be longer. Negotiations between officials in Brussels are scheduled to last all of next week.

As long as the final deal is approved by British and European parliaments, the transition would start when Britain leaves the bloc on March 29, 2019. Barnier said on Wednesday that agreeing a transition is “not a given”. For businesses, it's the absolute priority.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Emma Ross-Thomas

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