UK slams EU's 'bad faith' on Brexit transition



He said that the text implied that the EU could "arbitrarily terminate" the transition, which the UK government calls an "implementation period".

"We think it was unwise to publish that," he added.

The document published by the European Commission on Wednesday lays out the EU executive proposals on the UK's rights and obligation during the period - which will start when the withdrawal agreement enter into force in March 2019, and will finish on 31 December 2020.

During that time, the UK will not be an EU member anymore, and will therefore not be represented in EU institutions, but it will still have to abide to EU laws and stay under the jurisdiction of the EU Court of Justice.



In a footnote, the commission also says that the withdrawal agreement "should provide for a mechanism allowing the Union to suspend certain benefits deriving for the United Kingdom from participation in the internal market where it considers that referring the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union would not bring in appropriate time the necessary remedies."

"I have to say I thought that document was hardly a legal document, it was a political document," Davis said on Thursday.

Davis made his comments after the UK government to try to define its position on the post-Brexit UK-EU relationship, and as negotiations were under way in Brussels over the UK exit - including the issue of the Irish border - and the transition.

EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier will give a press conference on Friday over the result of the round of talks.

Northern Ireland to remain in Single Market?

According to the Guardian, the EU has told the UK that Northern Ireland would remain in the EU single market after Brexit and after the transition period to avoid a 'hard border' with the Republic of Ireland.

Under the withdrawal agreement, Northern Ireland would leave the single market only if provisions of a future trade or technical solutions provide guarantees that there will be no 'hard border'.

Meanwhile, prime minister Theresa May has still not announced the government's position for the future relationship.

May has been trying to reconcile views in her cabinet between Brexit hardliners and minister who are more concerned about the long-term impact of Brexit.

Davis said that the atmosphere of the two-day meeting in the prime minister's official countryside residence in Chequers was "very constructive" but that "there's still progress to be made, there are still things incomplete."