Today at 16:01
Photo from the Guardian
At a special meeting with the ambassadors of 27 European Union member states, Europe’s chief Brexit negotiator Michael Barnier raised the possibility of extending the Brexit transition – that is the period of time it takes for the United Kingdom to exit the European Union – to the end of 2022.
“This idea would allow for two years more to negotiate a trading relationship but means the UK would continue to follow EU rules and pay into its budget with no say for six-and-a-half years after the 2016 vote to leave,” the Guardian reported.
The United Kingdom voted to exit the EU in June 2016, but the process of doing so is a complicated one- especially considering that Ireland, which shares a border with Northern Ireland, has no intention of leaving the EU and UK politicians are struggling to come to an acceptable compromise that would not involve reestablishing a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland and there potentially reigniting violence yet simultaneously maintaining the trade relationship between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Earlier, the EU and UK had agreed on a transition period of 21 months, that is, until the end of 2020. The final length of the extension remains to be finalized by negotiators.
