EU says Brexit transition period should end on Dec 31, 2020

BRUSSELS - The European Commission on Wednesday recommended draft negotiating directives to the General Affairs Council (Article 50) for the next phase of Brexit negotiations, calling on a transitional period requested by Britain to conclude before the end of December 2020.

Supplementing the negotiating directives from May 2017, the draft negotiating directives set out additional details on possible transitional arrangements.

NO CHERRY PICKING

The directive says no "cherry picking" would be allowed. During the transition, Britain would continue to participate in the Customs Union and the Single Market with all four freedoms -- free movement of goods, services and capital and labor.

The Union acquis should continue to apply in full to and in Britain as if it were a European Union (EU) member state. Any changes made to the acquis during this time should automatically apply to Britain, said the directive.

Meanwhile, during the transition period, all existing Union regulatory, budgetary, supervisory, judiciary and enforcement instruments and structures will apply, including the competence of the European Courts of Justice (ECJ).

Britain will be a third country as of March 30, 2019. As a result, it will no longer be represented in EU's institutions, agencies, bodies and offices, the directive added.

The recommendation also recalled the need to translate into legal terms the results of the first phase of the negotiations, as outlined in the Commission's Communication and Joint Report, according to a press release of the EU.

It underlined that work needs to be completed on all withdrawal issues, including those not yet addressed in the first phase, such as the overall governance of the withdrawal agreement and substantive issues such as goods placed on the market before Britain's withdrawal from the EU.

The General Affairs Council (Art 50) is scheduled to adopt these additional negotiating directives on transitional arrangements in January 2018, said the release.