Croatia Says Short Brexit Transition Would Pose Test for Talks

(Bloomberg) -- Sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, follow us @Brexit and subscribe to our podcast.Croatia, which just took over the European Union’s six-month rotating presidency, signaled any deal between the bloc and post-Brexit Britain on a future relationship would be limited should the negotiating deadline be end-2020.“We have to be realistic in understanding how much time we have ahead of us if we want to conclude,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told reporters on Wednesday in Zagreb, the capital.The U.K. is on course to leave the EU by Jan. 31 after Prime Minister Boris Johnson scored an overwhelming victory in last month’s national elections on a pledge to “get Brexit done.”Expected U.K. parliamentary approval of a hard-fought withdrawal agreement between Britain and its 27 EU partners will trigger a transition phase until end-2020. During this period, the economic status quo will be maintained while both sides negotiate on their future trade, political, security and other relations.Under the Brexit deal, the transition phase could be prolonged by as long as two years. Such a decision would have to be taken by mid-2020.Since his election win, Johnson has said he would forgo the opportunity for any extension of the transition beyond this year. The U.K.’s EU partners aim to approve a mandate for negotiations with Britain in late February on the future relationship.“We should adopt a negotiating framework that is inclusive, but also approach it in a realistic manner,” Plenkovic said on Wednesday.To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Zagreb at jstearns2@bloomberg.net;Jasmina Kuzmanovic in Zagreb at jkuzmanovic@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, ;Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey, Andrew LangleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.