Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the legal framework for transitional arrangements between the UK and the EU after March 2019.

The Government continues to engage constructively in discussions with the EU across all facets of the negotiations. As the Prime Minister set out, the UK is seeking a strictly time-limited implementation period, based on the existing structure of EU rules and regulations, during which the UK and the EU would continue to have access to one another’s markets on current terms, and the UK would take part in existing security measures.

The Commission’s own Article 50 guidelines published in April also make provision for such a period of transition. The Government believes an implementation period is mutually beneficial to both the UK and the EU, helping both sides to minimise disruption and for there to be only one set of changes.