EU backs Brexit transition period to end 2020: officials

BRUSSELS: European Union ministers on Monday formally agreed demands for a transition period that gives Britain access to the EUs single market for nearly two years after Brexit, without having any policy-making power.

Sabine Weyand, the EU's deputy chief negotiator, said a meeting of European affairs ministers in Brussels "adopts guidelines for Brexit negotiations within two minutes: status quo transition without institutional representation, lasting to 31 December 2020."