EU sets Brexit transition period deadline as December 31, 2020

The cut-off date for what Britain terms as the "implementation phase" of Brexit has been laid out as part of the EU's guidelines for the next round of negotiations on Britain’s future relationship with the EU as a non-member, released by EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels today.

The guidelines state that the UK should continue to follow EU trade law and stay in the European customs union and single market during the transition phase.

"There should be no 'cherry picking': The UK will continue to participate in the customs union and the single market (with all four freedoms). All existing Union regulatory, budgetary, supervisory, judiciary and enforcement instruments and structures will apply, including the competence of the Court of Justice of the European Union," the guidelines state.

The EU's 28 commissioners, including President JeanClaude Juncker, met today to approve guidelines for the bloc's negotiating position on the transition drawn up by Barnier.

Thrashing out the precise terms of the transition phase will form part of the next round of negotiations between both sides, after the first so-called "divorce" phase of talks was concluded earlier this month.

The UK had already said that the temporary arrangements should not last for more than two years after it has formally left the EU in March 2019, which marks the two-year timeline triggered after Britain invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty in March this year following a referendum in favour of Brexit in June 2016.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Theresa averted her next parliamentary hurdle over Brexit as the flagship EU (Withdrawal) Bill came up in the House of Commons for its final stage of amendment debates.

May had wanted to specify that the UK will leave the EU at 23:00 GMT on March 29, 2019 in the Bill, a move which had been widely criticised by Opposition parties and some Conservative party MPs.

A compromise amendment, which allows some flexibility around that date being set in stone, has now been accepted by the UK government in order to help the British PM avert a second Commons rebellion by some of her own MPs.

"We would only use this power in exceptional circumstances, for the shortest possible time, and an affirmative motion would be brought to the house," May told the House of Commons today.

Her announcement that the date should be enshrined in law had been attacked by Labour as a "gimmick" and some Tory MPs warned it could tie the government's hands if negotiations dragged on longer than planned.

The new amendment seeks to allow the government to change the "exit day" through further legislation, if the negotiations remain inconclusive by March 29, 2019.

The crucial bill is undergoing hundreds of attempts to change its wording by British MPs from across different political parties, with one change – to give Parliament a guaranteed vote on the final Brexit deal – been passed by the House of Commons so far.

The EU Withdrawal Bill is a key part of the government's Brexit strategy as it aims to end the supremacy of EU law and ensure UK law is supreme on Brexit day.

The Committee Stage of the bill in the Commons comes to an end today, which marks the last day for the UK Parliament for the year.

It concluded with the British PM’s grilling by crossparty MPs at the House of Commons' Liaison Committee, covering a host of domestic issues and dominated by Brexit.

The Committee, made up of the MPs who chair the Parliament's different select committees, is headed by Sarah Wollaston – one of the rebel Tory MPs.

May fielded the volley of questions with defiance, stressing that she remains committed to a Global Britain, which means a UK that will play a "full role on the world stage".