David Davis says UK and EU still disagree on so many aspects of Brexit transition deal he cannot remember them all

David Davis says Britain and the EU still disagree on so many aspects of the planned Brexit transition deal that he cannot remember them all.

There are “about 11 areas of difference” with a crucial EU summit intended to seal the deal only just over two weeks away, the Brexit Secretary said before an inquiry by MPs.

“I can’t list them all from memory, but I could send you a list if you want,” he told the Commons European Scrutiny Committee.

It came as Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit spokesman, said he hopes the issue of citizens’ rights during the transition can be concluded in the coming weeks.

Mr Davis said the Irish border was the “biggest and most obvious issue”, but also pointed to the UK’s demand to be able to challenge new EU laws and the rights of EU citizens as other hurdles.

Nevertheless, he insisted: “The prospects of getting to an outcome by 23 March are good – the expectation is there.”

The March deadline is crucial because UK businesses have warned they will start to implement contingency plans to move some of their operations abroad if it is missed.

This week, the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, said it was vital for the aviation industry, because “airlines will need to know on 1 April whether they can safely schedule flights in April 2019”.

But Mr Davis acknowledged London and Brussels were still in conflict over an “arbitration mechanism” to prevent any new regulations harming Britain, once its voting rights are lost.

The prospect has triggered protests from both Brexiteers and pro-EU MPs that the UK would be a “vassal state” during the transition, mooted to last about two years.

The Brexit Secretary also pointed to lingering disagreement over EU citizens who arrive in the UK during the transition, despite Theresa May’s U-turn last week when she agreed they would have permanent residency rights.

Some EU figures have warned that a refusal to allow entry for family members, or to give oversight of cases to the European Court of Justice, are still unacceptable.

Mr Davis said they were all issues that “will still be in play” approaching the summit in Brussels, adding: “Those are the biggest.”

Other disagreements are likely to include the ECJ being the ultimate arbiter of any disagreement with the UK over the withdrawal agreement, as the EU wants.

Future atomic energy arrangements, after the UK leaves Euratom, rules for data protection and public procurement, and even the status of goods on the market on Brexit Day of 29 March 29, 2019, all remain unresolved, it is thought.

During the evidence session, Mr Davis reopened the row with Ireland over Theresa May’s suggestion of the US-Canada border as a model for Ireland after Brexit.

Leo Varadkar, the Irish Prime Minister, stamped on the idea, saying: “I visited it back in August, and I saw a hard border with physical infrastructure with customs posts, people in uniforms with arms and dogs.”

Mr Davis admitted Mr Varadkar would “jump on me for saying it”, but insisted it was a “very open border” about from some “choke points”.

And he again argued that MPs would not be able to block or delay Brexit, even if they throw out the Prime Minister’s deal in a “meaningful vote” at the end of the year.

There would be no “overruling the referendum”, he told the committee, adding: “We will leave under all circumstances.”

Speaking after a meeting with the Prime Minister at Downing Street on Tuesday, Mr Verhofstadt warned that the European Parliament will not accept any deal on citizens’ rights that involves discrimination against people who come to the UK during the transition period.

He said: “I think it’s possible that in the coming days and weeks we make progress on this [citizens’ rights] we can conclude.”