Britain's divorce from the European Union could involve a transition arrangement "if necessary", but a deal should be possible within 18 months, Brexit minister David Davis said today.
The hardline eurosceptic told a committee of British lawmakers that such an arrangement could be struck "if it's necessary, and only if it's necessary" but that a deal was "all negotiable" within the 18-month framework currently suggested by European Union negotiators.
Finance minister Philip Hammond said Monday that a transitional arrangement could be "helpful" to smooth the country's exit but Davis last week said he was "not really interested" in an interim deal.
The government intends to begin the formal exit process by the end of March, starting the clock ticking on a two-year deadline to negotiate its departure and future relationship with the bloc.
However, European Commission chief negotiator Michel Barnier said earlier this month that talks to agree the terms of the divorce and to thrash out a deal for future trading arrangements should be concluded in 18 months.
Hammond said there was an "emerging view" that "having a longer period to manage the adjustment between where we are now, as full members of the European Union, and where we get to in the future... Would be generally helpful".
Davis said he thought his finance minister was suggesting an arrangement to gradually implement a concluded deal, rather than as a mechanism to prolong negotiations.
"It's perfectly possible to know what the end game is in two years," he said. "The British people want this done with some degree of expedition.
"Barnier said 18 months and I think it is all negotiable in that time," added Davis.
"The article 50 process was written to allow departure from the EU, plainly the architects of it thought it was time enough to do the job, and so do I.
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