Brexit: EU gives the British more time - on one condition

United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum

all articles

The feared hard Brexit may be averted - at least for the time being: At the summit meeting this Wednesday, EU leaders want to agree to give Britain more time, according to a draft. A condition for the delay is that the British participate in the European elections on May 23, according to the news agencies dpa and Reuters. This is to ensure that there are no legal difficulties if Britain should still be a member of the EU in the summer but has not elected any MPs.

In addition, Britain must agree to act "constructive" and "responsible" until the final exit, the paper goes on to say. The country must refrain from anything that endangers the achievement of the EU's goals. If both sides ratify the Brexit Treaty before the deadline expires, according to the paper, Britain could leave the EU sooner than planned. The EU withdrawal would take effect on the 1st day of the following month.

If the British do not agree to these requirements, the Brexit will be completed on 1 June. The remaining EU states would not be interested in a no-deal Brexit, diplomats were quoted as saying. At the special summit, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her EU colleagues are discussing another shift.

If they can not find an agreement, Friday threatens an unregulated exit of Britain without a contract. To avoid this, the EU had already extended the original Brexit deadline of 29 March to 12 April just a few weeks ago. British Prime Minister Theresa May had recently asked for a deferral until 30 June. EU Council President Donald Tusk has proposed a flexible extension of up to twelve months. Possible dates will also be available at the end of 2019 or mid-2020.

Merkel considers a postponement until 2020 possible

Chancellor Merkel said on Tuesday following a meeting with May that she thought a postponement would be possible by the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020. After that, May left for France, where she received President Emmanuel Macron.

France also signaled that it did not want to ignore Britain's request to postpone the EU's exit. From the environment Macron said, however, also, a shift by a year is too long. In addition, an extension of time is only possible with strict conditions.

Meanwhile, EU Council President Donald Tusk again campaigned for a Brexit reprieve for up to a year. Experience has shown that approval of the British House of Commons on the Brexit Treaty is unlikely until the end of June. Instead, a short shift would probably lead to ever new special peaks, and the other work of the EU would be overshadowed by it. "That's why I think we should discuss an alternative, longer term extension," the letter of invitation to the Brexit Special Summit said Wednesday.

The British House of Commons meanwhile agreed to May's request for a renewed extension of the Brexit deadline until June 30. The government's request received a large majority of 420 to 110 votes in London. That the parliamentarians could even vote on it, they had only secured the night of Tuesday by law.

If the parliament had rejected the request, the British government would have had to ask a new one - but still had the opportunity to negotiate with the 27 other EU states, as a speaker said.