Britain will have to surrender its vote on European Union decisions while accepting the regulations of the single market and customs union during a Brexit transition period, the bloc’s chief negotiator said yesterday. Michel Barnier also insisted that the three strands of the first round of Brexit talks — a commitment to an open border between the north and south of Ireland, Britain’s divorce bill and the rights of EU citizens living in the UK — must be translated into a legally binding text. “Without an agreement on all parts of the withdrawal there can be no transition,” he said. Last week, Leo Varadkar called on the UK to honour the commitments it made on the Irish border in the earlier negotiations.

Source: The Times January 30, 2018 00:00 UTC