Brexit: EU Commission

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town Excerpts
Wednesday 10th October 2018

(6 years, 2 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Callanan Portrait Lord Callanan
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I am afraid I am unable to give a precise timescale at the moment. We are negotiating. At this moment our negotiating teams are meeting in Brussels and we are confident of a deal. As soon as we have one that we can share with the noble Lord, I will be sure to let him know.

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town Portrait Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)
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I note that the Minister continues to use the words “implementation period”. Will he now admit that after the end of March we will still be in negotiations and it will be a transition period because negotiations will be carrying on and we will not have the sort of deal that simply needs implementing? Does he agree that in future it is about a transition not an implementation period?

Lord Callanan Portrait Lord Callanan
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No I do not agree with the noble Baroness. It is an implementation period. We expect to agree the withdrawal agreement and the future economic partnership in the next few weeks—in the autumn—and the implementation period will be about implementing that deal.