19/09/2017 (Agence Europe) – More than 100 businesses active in the United Kingdom, representing more than 500,000 jobs in the country and more than 600,000 in the EU, came forward on Sunday 17 September to call for a transition period of up to three years following Brexit, in order to avoid a “cliff edge” in the new trade relationship between the EU and the UK once it is a third country. In a letter to the British and EU negotiators a week ahead of the next negotiating session, they urge them to be pragmatic and determined to start the next phase of negotiations on future bilateral relations. Otherwise, the risk of 'no deal' is a very real one and must be planned with its inevitable consequences on jobs and growth on both sides of the Channel, they warn. (MB)