Brussels (AFP)

The 27 countries of the European Union gave Monday the green light for a third postponement of the date of exit of the United Kingdom, until January 31, 2020, while Boris Johnson will try again to trigger an early election.

Three days ahead of the planned Brexit date on 31 October, "the 27 have agreed to accept the UK's request for a flexible Brexit postponement until 31 January 2020," said Donald Tusk, President of the European Council. on Twitter.

This postponement foresees a deadline of 31 January, but with the possibility for the United Kingdom to leave the EU on 30 November or 31 December in case of ratification of the exit agreement before these deadlines, according to a document seen by AFP.

France, the country most reluctant to a long report, has agreed to this new extension by attaching conditions. The decision comes with a political declaration in which the EU rules out any renegotiation of the agreement with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and asks London to propose a British candidate as European Commissioner.

The conditions of the report approved by the ambassadors of the 27 in Brussels must be accepted by London. The formalization of the postponement should intervene of "here Tuesday or Wednesday" after a consultation of the leaders of 27 by a written procedure, according to a European source.

This decision follows a weekend of intense consultations, including between French President Emmanuel Macron and Johnson who spoke on the phone Sunday.

- "Effective meeting" -

EU chief negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier said Monday "very pleased that a decision was made", after the meeting of ambassadors described as "short and effective".

European Parliament President David Sassoli said the extension "gives the UK time to clarify what it wants". "At the same time, the European Parliament will continue to scrutinize the withdrawal agreement", which it must also ratify, he added.

This is the third postponement of the Brexit date, more than three years after the decision of the British, consulted by referendum, to vote 52% to leave the European Union. The UK was originally scheduled to leave the EU on March 29th, which was postponed to April 12th and October 31st.

Since his return from Brussels, agreement in his pocket about ten days ago, Boris Johnson has managed to obtain unprecedented advances. He was also forced to seek a postponement after stating that he would rather "be dead at the bottom of a ditch" than to make such a request.

British MPs approved the new agreement in principle, but they rejected the forced march that Boris Johnson wanted to impose on them.

To win legislative elections, to be held on December 12, Boris Johnson will need two thirds of the vote in the House of Commons on Monday afternoon, 434 votes.

The Conservative Prime Minister, who no longer has a majority, has already failed twice in September.

Winning elections would give him some leeway. His ranks have been reduced by about twenty deputies - excluded from the party after having voted against him - and his key ally to Westminster, the small unionist North-Irish party DUP (10 deputies), favorable to an exit of the EU, refuses the agreement he has negotiated.

Labor, the main opposition party, reiterated that it would only vote for general elections once the risk of an exit without agreement was removed.

Two other Europhile opposition groups, the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Liberal Democrats, which bring together 54 deputies, announced their intention, in the event of postponement until the end of January, to introduce on Tuesday an amendment to call for elections on December 9th. These parties would need only a simple majority.

The timetable set by both parties would prevent Boris Johnson from passing the law on his Brexit agreement before the dissolution of Parliament. A scenario politically unfavorable to the Prime Minister, whose party enjoys a large lead in the polls.

© 2019 AFP