• Brexit France puts pressure on a divided EU so that Brexit extension is short
  • The Portrait: Michel Barnier, Dr. Brexit and Mister Europa

"We have had an excellent discussion but there is no decision," European Union negotiating chief Michel Barnier has confirmed upon leaving the meeting with the 27 ambassadors in Brussels, who have once again delayed the granting of an extension for the Brexit negotiations to the United Kingdom, waiting for what happens in the House of Commons next Monday.

The ambassadors will meet again next week, Monday or Tuesday, according to European sources. Just two or three days before October 31, the planned date for leaving the United Kingdom from the EU. That an extension is necessary to avoid a Brexit without agreement and that it is best to follow the written procedure to save a summit, they all agree. How long it should be, not so much , but according to diplomatic sources, the only proposal is still to accept the request of the United Kingdom to extend the negotiation until January 31.

In his letter to Jeremy Corbyn after a failed meeting, Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed Thursday to call elections in December but try to ratify the exit agreement before November, when the House of Commons should dissolve. But Johnson uses the EU as a scapegoat to justify the elections. "If the EU offers the delay that Parliament has requested [until January 31]," Johnson warned in reference to the famous Ben Act in his letter, "then it is clear that there must be elections."

The member states do not want to interfere in the internal political games in London and that is why they play with the times. There is still room next week to make a last-minute decision - probably by written procedure - and prevent the United Kingdom, and also the EU a bit, from crashing. In Brussels, they rightly excuse themselves that the situation in London is "very volatile" and they need all the elements to make a decision. "You have to see what is best for Europe so that the agreement goes ahead," acknowledged a high diplomatic source.

Last Wednesday the EU ambassadors met for the first time to discuss the possibility of an extension, following the Westminster brake on the ratification process of the exit agreement. The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk , had spent the last few days probing the member states. Then, the main obstacle was France, which prefers a shorter extension and asked, like many, clarity to London.

Following Johnson's letter, the ball is again on the roof of Westminster. "If the problems come from London, the solution cannot leave Brussels," said a high European source a few days ago. So, again, the 27 wait.

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