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No Brexit transition period without final EU trade deal, May tells MPs No Brexit transition period without final EU trade deal, May tells MPs
(35 minutes later)
Theresa May has signalled there will be no transitional period to prevent a “cliff-edge” Brexit unless the UK manages to agree a deal with the EU on their future relationship.Theresa May has signalled there will be no transitional period to prevent a “cliff-edge” Brexit unless the UK manages to agree a deal with the EU on their future relationship.
The prime minister has been under pressure to help businesses plan for the future by agreeing a time-limited transitional period by Christmas, but she told MPs that this “implementation phase” could only be agreed when a trade deal had been struck.The prime minister has been under pressure to help businesses plan for the future by agreeing a time-limited transitional period by Christmas, but she told MPs that this “implementation phase” could only be agreed when a trade deal had been struck.
“The point of the implementation period is to put in place the practical changes necessary to move to the future partnership, and in order to have that you need to know what that future partnership is going to be,” she said.“The point of the implementation period is to put in place the practical changes necessary to move to the future partnership, and in order to have that you need to know what that future partnership is going to be,” she said.
May said the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier had suggested both elements would need to be agreed by October 2018 in order to be ratified by all the national and regional parliaments in the EU in time for the day of the UK’s exit in March 2019. May said the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, had suggested both elements would need to be agreed by October 2018 in order to be ratified by all the national and regional parliaments in the EU in time for the day of the UK’s exit in March 2019.
The prime minister’s spokesman repeatedly refused to elaborate on what May meant by her comments and declined to confirm whether there could be a transitional period if the UK is to leave without a deal and becomes reliant on World Trade Organisation terms. The prime minister’s spokesman repeatedly refused to elaborate on what May meant by her comments and declined to confirm whether there could be a transitional period if the UK was to leave without a deal and becomes reliant on World Trade Organisation terms.
Her remarks raise the prospect of the UK crashing out of the EU with no deal and no transitional period to cushion the blow in March 2019, which is likely to alarm businesses. Her remarks raise the prospect of the UK crashing out of the EU with no deal and no transitional period to cushion the blow, which is likely to alarm businesses.
A spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses urged the prime minister to agree a transition period as soon as possible. A spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses urged the prime minister to agree a transition period as soon as possible. “It is important for businesses to have the certainty that there will be a Brexit transition period before whatever new arrangements between the UK and EU are implemented,” he said.
“It is important for businesses to have the certainty that there will be a Brexit transition period before whatever new arrangements between the UK and EU are implemented. With many firms looking to future investment decisions, it is vital that a ‘standstill’ implementation period is agreed urgently. ”With many firms looking to future investment decisions, it is vital that a ‘standstill’ implementation period is agreed urgently. Small businesses would struggle to cope with more than one set of rule changes and so a single switch to the new arrangements should be made after firms have had time to adapt and prepare.
“Small businesses would struggle to cope with more than one set of rule changes and so a single switch to the new arrangements should be made after firms have had time to adapt and prepare.
“The longer the short-term uncertainty goes on, the more difficult it will become for small businesses with EU customers or supply chains to make investment decisions.”“The longer the short-term uncertainty goes on, the more difficult it will become for small businesses with EU customers or supply chains to make investment decisions.”