Not So Fast: EU's Juncker Says Brexit Negotiations to Last Beyond Two Years

President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker fears that the Brexit negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union will not be concluded in 2 years.

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – According to the EU Commission head, at least 20,000 laws will have to be amended in the United Kingdom before the country can leave the European bloc.

"I do not think … that we will succeed in 24 months in concluding the arrangements for the exit of Great Britain from the EU and [forging] the whole relationship between Great Britain and the European continent," Juncker said on Thursday, as quoted by the Ouest-France newspaper.

Juncker added that the United Kingdom will not have the right to conclude bilateral trade agreements as long as it remains in the EU.

On February 9, UK Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed that her government planned to trigger Article 50 of the EU Lisbon Treaty launching Brexit procedures by the end of March 2017.

Last month, May presented 12 points of her Brexit plan, which envisaged the country leaving the EU single market. She expressed hope that the bloc and the country would reach a free trade agreement.

 

On June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom held a referendum, as a result of which the country decided to leave the 28-nation bloc. According to the final results, some 52 percent of voters supported Brexit.