Britain won't be ready for 2020 Brexit, will take longer: EU officials

Senior EU figures have told Reuters Britain will not be ready to make a full break from the European Union by the end of 2020 as Brexit transition plans foresee and the bloc is bracing for a much longer goodbye.

The British government may be thinking on similar lines.

Several diplomats and Brussels officials familiar with the discussions said a host of unresolved issues, including the Irish border, and British in-fighting over what kind of future trade relationship to ask for left many convinced the transition will end up being longer.

Two senior EU officials said British negotiators appeared to be sounding out other governments' attitudes to an extension to the 21-month transition currently on offer, although others said they believed British Prime Minister Theresa May still aims to have a free trade deal negotiated to start in January 2021.