The Least Painful Path to Brexit

Britain will begin talking to the European Union about its impending divorce when Prime Minister Theresa May formally starts the process -- by the end of next March, she says. And while the substance of those negotiations is unclear, their length is not: two years, which is not nearly enough time.

Britain and the EU need a transitional deal -- a temporary agreement that can stand for as long as it takes to work out a comprehensive new pact. Many supporters of Brexit hate the idea. They’re wrong, and May needs to say so.