Britain must accept all EU laws during a post-Brexit transition period, including those made after it leaves, European Union negotiator Michel Barnier has said.
"During this period all decisions will apply and the UK must know this rule, and accept it from the start," he told a news conference after ministers backed the EU's negotiating stance on the issue.
"It will continue to have all the economic benefits, therefore it must apply all the rules. The single market cannot be á la carte" he said.
UK must be bound by EU changes during transition – Michel Barnier | Read more: https://t.co/fB2X5Z3f5R pic.twitter.com/rQL61tY58D
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) January 29, 2018
EU Foreign and European Affairs Ministers met in Brussels today to adopt directives for upcoming Brexit negotiations, addressing in particular the transition period after the UK leaves the EU next year.
Mr Barnier's comments came after his British counterpart David Davis said that there would be "argument" with the EU about whether Britain could object to new laws.
The EU negotiator also stressed that Britain would have no decision-making power in the EU during the transition, which the bloc wants to run from 29 March 2019, when Britain leaves, until the end of 2020.
It would only be able to attend meetings on a "limited, exceptional, case by case basis," Mr Barnier said.
Britain would meanwhile be able to negotiate trade deals with other countries during the transition, but could not "enter them into force", he said.
Mr Davis told a parliamentary committee that "we want a high degree of stability and the right to do deals. Broadly that's it."
It comes as British Prime Minister Theresa May is facing increasingly vocal complaints from Leavers that she is preparing to deliver a Brexit "in name only" because the UK will follow EU rules during the transition, while several backbenchers broke cover over the weekend to criticise her lack of action on domestic issues.
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Eurosceptic former minister Theresa Villiers said she was worried about a "dilution of Brexit", while Remainer Heidi Allen told Mrs May to "get a grip" because the Tories are "letting this country down", and former minister Rob Halfon appeared to liken Mrs May to a "tortoise".
There were calls for Mrs May to sack Chancellor Philip Hammond, who enraged Brexiteers by saying trade relations with the EU would change only "very modestly" and that the UK should seek a "middle way".
The UK government has already indicated it is willing to comply with most of the EU's demands to secure an "implementation period" of about two years after withdrawal in March 2019 to make life easier for businesses, but to the consternation of Brexiteers.
Bruton calls for Brexit negotiating extension
Former taoiseach John Bruton has called for the two-year Brexit negotiating period to be extended.
Mr Bruton, who is also a former EU Ambassador to the United States, said the time limit is too short and any agreement reached will have to be ratified by the UK and EU parliaments, which also takes a lot of time.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Bruton said that pressure for negotiations is too great and that mistakes are inevitably made, when insufficient time is given to negotiations.
Mr Bruton added that the time pressure is adding to a "fevered atmosphere" in British politics, with just over a year left before the negotiating period ends in March 2019.
He warned that Ireland would suffer as much as the UK, if the right deal was not reached.
Mr Bruton said there is a provision for the extension of the two-year negotiating period in Article 50.
He said that there are some downsides to the idea of extending the period and it would have to be reached unanimously.
However, he said the possibility of extending the period would allow for more rational discussion and a better outcome.
