The British government wants to wrap up Brexit negotiations as quickly as possible so that negotiators can move on to the next stage of talks, during which the terms of a future bilateral relationship with the European Union will be set. But the past three rounds of talks have yielded little progress, so British Prime Minister Theresa May used a speech in Florence, Italy on Sept. 22 to present her proposals for the future to accelerate Brexit negotiations. May touched upon controversial issues — such as the British budget — in an attempt to breathe new life into the languishing negotiations.
According to the British prime minister, after Brexit, a transitional period to implement the new arrangements would be mutually beneficial for both the United Kingdom and the Union. During that period, a suggested two years, the United Kingdom would like to maintain access to the EU single market and to keep abiding by EU rules. However, May acknowledged that the bloc would have to agree on the duration of the transitional period and urged the European Union to pin down a time frame quickly.
In addition, May said that the United Kingdom would honor its existing obligations and would continue contributing to the EU budget during the implementation period. The United Kingdom is set to leave the union in March 2019, and London plans to contribute to the EU budget in 2019 and 2020. This is important because the current EU budget framework ends in 2020, and Brexit has fueled fears that the remaining EU members would have to either increase their contributions or adjust to a smaller budget.
The Florence speech also confirmed some of what May said in her Lancaster House speech last January, namely that after Brexit, the United Kingdom will no longer be part of the EU single market or customs union. May also touched upon the British commitment to protecting the Good Friday agreement for Northern Ireland and avoiding physical controls at the border with the Republic of Ireland. She also said would she would like to find a new, "creative" trade arrangement for the United Kingdom, different from the EU free trade deal with Canada and different from the European Economic Area model. In the new relationship, neither the EU Court of Justice nor British courts should be responsible for dispute resolution.
Another round of Brexit negotiations will begin Sept. 25, and May will meet European Council President Donald Tusk in London on the following day, when they are expected to discuss the proposals outlined in her Florence speech. She is also likely to continue work to advance the British agenda and to inform other EU countries about her Brexit plans during the informal European Council summit taking place in Estonia at the end of September. There, too, the prime minister will, no doubt, be looking to seize any opportunity she gets to move the Brexit negotiations along.
