UK expects transition period after Brexit

The UK will seek a transitional phase after it leaves the European Union -- expected on March 29, 2019 -- that could last more than three years as a new relationship with the bloc is forged, Chancellor Philip Hammond said.

 "On the first day after we leave the European Union, of course many things will look similar because that is the starting point," Hammond told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.  "People have talked about a year, two years, maybe three years" for the transition.

There is "broad consensus" the process must be completed by June 2022 when the UK holds its next general election, Hammond said.

That could mean a period when some EU rules persist after the UK leaves the bloc, including allowing free movement of people and being unable to strike new trade deals with non-EU countries. 

(Alistair Holloway, alistair.holloway@wort.lu, +352 49 93 739)