BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Parliament's top Brexit official says the slow progress of the divorce proceedings between the European Union and Britain has ensured that the prospect of a prolonged transition period after the March 2019 deadline is gaining ever more traction.

The legislature's Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt said Wednesday that Britain would have to continue to abide by EU rules as a full member on such things as freedom of movement for a transition period that could take three years.

Verhofstadt made the remarks to a parliamentary committee, just streets away from where British and EU officials were negotiating in their third round of talks. So far there have been no apparent breakthroughs, stoking talk of the need for a transition period after the two-year Brexit process ends March 29, 2019.