Brussels (AFP)
European Council President Donald Tusk urged EU member states to accept a third Brexit postponement after a double-edged vote by British MPs.
Tuesday, the House of Commons approved in principle, by 329 votes to 299, the new divorce agreement concluded by their Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU leaders, while demanding more time to consider it.
It has indeed refused by 322 votes against 308 to vote on this text by Thursday evening, a time deemed too short to debate a 110-page pad.
Boris Johnson then announced that he was suspending the examination of the agreement by the Parliament until the European Union takes a decision on a postponement of the date of the divorce, fixed in principle to 31 October.
"The Brexit is in purgatory", headlined Wednesday the Daily Telegraph. "Yes, but no, but ..." ironically for the tabloid The Sun in the face of this new vote ambivalent British MPs.
"Our position remains that we should not postpone, that we should leave the EU on October 31," added Boris Johnson, who has never changed his promise to implement Brexit at the end of the month. , as expected.
Following the British vote, Tusk recommended EU leaders to agree to delay Brexit again, which has already been postponed twice, from 29 March to 12 April and again to 31 October.
"I recommend to the leaders of the 27 members of the European Union to accept the British request for a further postponement of the (UK) release date and I propose that it be decided by written procedure", without the need to convene a summit, tweeted Mr. Tusk.
- "Calendar problem" -
A meeting of EU member country ambassadors was scheduled on Wednesday to discuss the recommendation, one AFP official said.
But there is no question of deciding on Wednesday, warned this representative. It will be, he explained, to check whether all the member countries share the same analysis of the situation and to see if a new postponement is necessary.
"The good news is that Boris Johnson has found a majority and it is not short, he has won his bet, but Parliament has blocked the schedule, we are not in a crisis situation, but facing a calendar became too tight, "told AFP a European official.
Johnson asked for a three-month extension on Saturday until 31 January 2020. Donald Tusk has called for a favorable response to the request, but the EU may propose a different term.
The duration of the extension must be decided by the Europeans in consultation with London, supported the European leader. "The EU is willing to accept an extension, but it will decide what is needed, and its exact duration will be the subject of political exchanges," he said. "A postponement of three months is not acceptable, it must be limited," he said.
France has also declared itself ready to accept a short "technical" report of "a few days" of the Brexit so that the parliamentary procedure can be completed in London, but excluded any rediscussion of the agreement.
The agreement settles the terms of divorce between the United Kingdom and the EU after 46 years together and allows for a negotiated exit with a transitional period at least until the end of 2020. Once approved by Parliament British, it will also have to be adopted by the European Parliament.
© 2019 AFP