To get out of the Brexit impasse, it is possible that the transition is prolonged

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Thursday that she planned to extend a so-called "few months" transition period after Britain's departure from the European Union, which according to his detractors betrays Brexit.

Less than six months before Britain left the EU in its most important policy change for more than 40 years, Brexit talks have boggled over how to treat their only land border between the province British Northern Ireland and Ireland.

The problem is centered on what is called a "safety net" – an insurance policy guaranteeing that there will be no return to a hard border on the border. island of Ireland, former focal point of sectarian tensions, if a future trading relationship is not in place in time.

Extending the transition period could mean that if a future partnership is not ready, it would not need to trigger security, which until now was not desirable for the British side. However, even an extension will not dispel the EU's insistence that such support must be accepted to secure an agreement.

"Another idea that has emerged, and it's an idea at this point, is to create an option to extend the implementation period by a few months, and it would only be a few months," he said. – she told reporters on the second day of an EU summit.

"But the fact is it should not be used because we are working to ensure that our future relationships are in place by the end of December 2020."

May has tried to use the Brussels summit – once considered the theater of a possible breakthrough after more than a year of discussions – to give a softer tone to his counterparts in the US. EU after holding another meeting of this type last month last month.

Before leaving them to dinner on Wednesday, May urged them to work together. "We have shown that we can make difficult deals together in a constructive way. I remain confident in the expected results, "she told the leaders, according to a British official. "The last step will require courage, trust and leadership from both sides."

"DESPERATE"

But the latest stalemate in the negotiations prompted many supporters and even critics of Britain's departure to express their frustration at an exit that, according to some Brexit activists, would be the simplest deal to date.

And the suggestion that Britain could remain firmly in the EU for longer than the expected 21 months has fueled those who already say that Britain has already abandoned its negotiations too much. Others fear that May will drag the country into a Brexit without agreement, when Britain leaves the bloc without agreement.

"She loses the confidence of her colleagues of all tendencies. The people who have supported it throughout this process are on the verge of despair at the state of this negotiation, "said Conservative legislator Nick Boles, May's critic who, in the referendum, backed stay in the European Union and wish to remain a single market provisionally.

"It's really a last desperate blow."

For many who have campaigned to leave the EU, the idea of ​​continuing to pay into the block well beyond the departure of Britain in March of next year is a anathema.

"We can not find the money to properly fund our front-line police, we can not find the 2 billion pounds for the vulnerable people on Universal Credit, but we can mysteriously find billions to pay for it." 39; EU for the extra year useless, "said conservative legislator Nadine Dorries. "It's serious."

But the EU is optimistic about an extension.

After the blocking of talks over the weekend, one of the bloc's negotiators told diplomats that Brussels had proposed to extend the one-year transition in order to make its Irish support proposal – already ruled out by Britain – more acceptable.

Diplomats said the idea was "tentatively explored".