The BBC reports that officials have agreed to re-word the document so it no longer refers to the UK potentially losing access to elements of the single market if it breaks EU rules.
It comes after Brussels’ chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned last week that a transition deal might not happen if the two sides could not reconcile their differences.
The EU wants the UK to continue to abide by all its rules and regulations during the two-year period, including allowing continued free movement of people from the continent.
Yesterday Boris Johnson suggested the Government had accepted a ‘status quo’ transition, telling reporters that “things will remain as they are” during the transition, which the EU wants to finish at the end of 2020.
According to today’s reports, officials from the other 27 EU member states agreed at a meeting yesterday to tone down the wording of the draft agreement so that it only refers to normal EU infringement rules, without any special punitive elements for the UK deal.