Post-Brexit Trade Deal to Take 10 Years to Reach - UK Envoy to EU

Ivan Rogers, UK EU Permanent Representative privately warned that a UK-EU trade deal after Brexit may take 10 years to negotiate, local media reported on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Ivan Rogers, UK Permanent Representative to the European Union privately warned the country’s government that a trade deal between the United Kingdom and the bloc after Brexit may take 10 years to negotiate, local media reported on Thursday.

According to the BBC, Rogers warned ministers that the European Union believed that the deal may not be concluded until the early to mid-2020s.

The media outlet claimed that Rogers had also cautioned that the deal could still be rejected by the bloc even after a decade of negotiations.

Sir Ivan Rogers has confirmed to Govt that Brexit deal will take ten years or more…THE SHAMBLES of the May Junta

— Chris Formaggia (@ChrisFormaggia) 15 декабря 2016 г.

​In June, the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. Soon after the referendum, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said that the country would trigger the Article 50 of the EU Lisbon Treaty by the end of March 2017, thus beginning withdrawal negotiations.

A number of EU leaders have stated that the United Kingdom would lose its access to the EU Single Market unless it keeps freedom of movement rules. May, meanwhile, suggested at the Conservative Party conference in early October that control over immigration would be prioritized over the access to the European Single Market.