Barnier's Brexit bombshell: UK deal will be like CANADA but will take 3 YEARS to complete
MICHEL Barnier risked worsening tensions in the Brexit negotiations yesterday by claiming a UK-EU trade deal will take years to complete.
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The EU's chief negotiator in the exit talks said the wrangle over the future relationship between Britain and the bloc will drag on for years after the official Brexit date in March 2019.
He also forecast the eventual deal will be similar to the recently-signed agreement between Canada and the EU.
His remarks - at odds with Theresa May's insistence that a trade deal can be secured before the departure date - raises the prospect of the UK being formally outside the EU but effectively tied to Brussels indefinitely.
The veteran French diplomat spoke out after Mrs May told MPs earlier this week there could be no transition period after Britain leaves the EU unless there was agreement on a trade deal.
In a Commons statement, the Prime Minister said she remained confident that a deal was possible following the latest EU summit last week in Brussels.
In an interview with France's Les Echoes newspaper, Mr Barnier said agreement on a time-limited transition period after Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019 should be possible.
"If we reach an agreement on the orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom, such a period, both short and framed, is possible," he said.
"To my mind, it makes sense that it covers the financial period, so until 2020. It would leave us more time to prepare for the future relationship."
Mr Barnier warned that the negotiations would continue to be "difficult" and that agreeing the future relationship between the EU and the UK would take time.
"The two phases are difficult. The second will be very different and will last several years," he said.
"It is truly unique because, instead of promoting regulatory convergence, it will aim to frame a difference.
"It will involve risks, including about its political ratification, making all the more necessary transparency around these topics."
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In response, Mrs May's spokesman said the Government believed it could agree a trade deal with the EU quickly.
He told a Westminster briefing: "We are confident of achieving that deal, and we come at this from a unique position in terms of our existing relationship with the EU, and that we can achieve that trade deal quickly.
"This needs joint endeavour, we need to work together.
"We believe that a deal is in the best interests of the United Kingdom and the European Union, and that we are going to work together to achieve that."