British prime minister Boris Johnson will abandon his pledge not to extend the transition period for the UK’s exit from the European Union beyond December 2020, European commissioner Phil Hogan believes. “I don’t believe prime minister Johnson will die in the ditch over the timeline for the future relationship either,” Mr Hogan said in an interview with The Irish Times, referring to the need to negotiate the terms of the UK and EU’s future relationship within a transition period. ‘Good of the nation’Mr Hogan said “prime minister Johnson had delivered a very impressive majority [in the recent UK election]. Both sides need to proceed calmly and coherently,” said Mr Hogan. Asked about the addition of a clause to the UK’s Brexit Bill ruling out any extension to the transition period beyond the end of 2020, Mr Hogan said: “At first sight this seems very odd indeed.

Source: The Irish Times December 30, 2019 03:00 UTC