I think we are going to start hearing a lot about the transition period after March 2019. The government is making a total hash of the negotiations and seem spectacularly unperturbed about the time it is all taking. By this time next year they are hoping to have concluded the withdrawal agreement and a bespoke trade deal with the EU incorporating some sort of implementation period. This is absolutely impossible and the government will soon have to admit it.
At some point we are going to have to steer sharply away from the cliff edge. The EU will not be interested in a bespoke transitional deal. It would take far too long and UK business would be unhappy about there being two smaller cliff edges to negotiate. The EU guidelines say in any limited transition period the UK would have to abide by all the rules, paying into the budget and accepting freedom of movement. This would probably be unacceptable to the UK government but maybe not.
The other option being suggested is the European Economic Area - the EEA. But when we leave the EU we will not be allowed to continue membership of the EEA and more importantly, as a third country we will also not be allowed to rejoin it because Article 126(1) EEA states that "The Agreement shall apply to the territories which the Treaty establishing the EEC (today the EU) is applied (…) and to the territories of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Norway". In other words only EFTA members are eligible to apply to join the EEA. This is explained in more detail HERE and is confirmed in a pamphlet (HERE) from the Institute of Directors - last paragraph page 4.
According to the Guardian (HERE), Carl Baudenbacher, the president of the EFTA court, is visiting London to promote the merits of the UK re-joining the EFTA. Apparently he has already spoken to David Davis about it, who said on Friday in the US, that he did not put the UK applying to join Efta at the top of his negotiation list, saying “It does not save us very much time. It has its own negotiation issues. Our enemy is time”. It is hard to see how producing a bespoke suit is quicker than being given cloth, scissors and a needle and thread but then again not everything Davis utters is rational.
It is not clear if Mr Baudenbacher will be speaking on behalf of the other EFTA members or not but I assume we will be hearing plenty more about this option in the months ahead.
Update 8th September: Davis has now said (HERE) that rejoining EFTA/EEA would be the "worst of all worlds" so effectively ruling this option out. He is going to look even more stupid than he normally does in a few months when he is forced to accept it.
Update 8th September: Davis has now said (HERE) that rejoining EFTA/EEA would be the "worst of all worlds" so effectively ruling this option out. He is going to look even more stupid than he normally does in a few months when he is forced to accept it.
