Legal mechanism for a transition period

5.10.2017

Question for written answer P-006282-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Raymond Finch (EFDD)

In his speech to Parliament on 3 October 2017, Michel Barnier referred to a Brexit transition period. What legal head or procedural mechanism under the EU treaties does the Commission envisage for concluding such an arrangement?

Would for example such a transition be agreed as part of the article 50 process, perhaps within the scope of the ‘framework for future relations’, or must it be a separate arrangement along the lines of a trade deal with a third country and concluded under Article 218?

If a transition deal can be concluded as part of the ‘framework for future relations’ referred to in Article 50, what legal distinction is there under the EU treaties between such a transition and the final future relationship?