Tag: Brexit withdrawal agreement

Theresa May has signalled that she would accept the EU’s likely offer of a lengthy Brexit delay at a summit of leaders as the UK would still be able to leave when the withdrawal agreement is approved. May is expected to have her request for a limited extension to 30 June rejected by the EU27 in favour of a longer potential delay to Brexit of up to a year. But May told reporters in Brussels that the UK would still be able to leave the bloc under the EU’s likely offer – once parliament had approved the 585-page withdrawal agreement and 26-page political declaration on the future. “What matters, I think, is I have asked for an extension to June 30 but what is important is that any extension enables us to leave at the point at which we ratify a withdrawal agreement. “I am willing to offer it personally, but the big question is if there is any added value to a long extension. Speaking in the Bundestag in Berlin, Merkel said the outcome of the special summit “may well be a longer extension than the one the British prime minister asked for”. “But we will shape this extension in such a way that whenever Britain has approved the withdrawal agreement, Britain can then complete its orderly withdrawal very shortly after,” she said. We know that such talks across parliamentary groups require compromise and time, so I and the government are of the opinion that we should offer both parties a reasonable amount of time, because an orderly exit is only possible in cooperation with the UK.” “We understand from the British prime minister’s letter that the UK is willing to prepare for participating in the European election,” she said. “There is a doubt about whether the UK is going to participate in the European elections or not,” the diplomat said, adding that any failure to elect MEPs would mean an exit date in June. The European elections are a European vote, where the elections in the UK concern us all.”

Theresa May and her cabinet are looking for ways to bring her EU withdrawal agreement back to the Commons for a fourth attempt at winning MPs' backing. EU leaders plan for no deal as other options dissolve Friday's defeat was the third time MPs have rejected her withdrawal agreement - the first vote was lost by 230 votes, the second by 149. Government position 'clear' MPs will hold another set of non-binding votes on various Brexit options in the Commons on Monday. None of MPs' eight proposed Brexit options secured a majority in the last round of "indicative votes" on 27 March, but the options which received the most votes were a customs union with the EU or a referendum on any deal. He said staying in a customs union with the EU would go against the result of the referendum and the Conservatives' election manifesto. The aspiration, strange as it sounds, for some time now has been to prove to MPs that the deal is the least worst of all the options... Read Laura's thoughts in full Earlier this month, EU leaders gave the PM until 12 April to come up with a Brexit solution; if her deal had made it through Parliament on Friday that date would have been pushed back to 22 May to allow time to pass the necessary legislation. Since the deal was rejected, Mrs May now has until 12 April to seek a longer extension to avoid the UK leaving without a deal. Mrs May said it was "almost certain" there would have to be an extended delay to Brexit to allow the UK to take part in the European elections at the end of May if her deal does not go through. Monday, 1 April: MPs hold another set of votes on various Brexit options to see if they can agree on a way forward Wednesday, 3 April: Potentially another round of so-called "indicative votes" Wednesday, 10 April: Emergency summit of EU leaders to consider any UK request for further extension Friday, 12 April: Brexit day, if UK does not seek/EU does not grant further delay 23-26 May: European Parliamentary elections Meanwhile, Leave voters registered their anger at the latest vote rejection with a protest at Westminster. Will European leaders accept a longer delay to Brexit?

The EU has handed Theresa May two weeks’ grace to devise an alternative Brexit plan if her deal falls next week after the prime minister failed to convince the bloc that she was capable of avoiding a no-deal Brexit. After a marathon late-night session of talks, the EU’s leaders ripped up May’s proposals and a new Brexit timeline was pushed on the prime minister to avoid the cliff-edge deadline of 29 March – next Friday. Under the deal agreed by May, Britain will now stay a member state until 12 April if the withdrawal agreement is rejected by MPs at the third time of asking. The UK government will still have a choice of a deal, no-deal, a long extension or revoking article 50.” Asked how long an extension could be on offer, the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, said: “Until the very end.” The French president, Emmanuel Macron, told reporters as he left the summit that the EU had acted to protect its interests in response to a “vacuum” in Westminster. Evasive even by her standards.” When leaders asked May what she was going to do if her deal was voted down, an official added that the prime minister replied that she was following her plan A of getting it through. The European Council takes note of the letter of Prime Minister Theresa May of 20 March 2019. In response, the European Council approves the Instrument relating to the Withdrawal Agreement and the Joint Statement supplementing the Political Declaration agreed between the European Commission and the government of the United Kingdom in Strasbourg on 11 March 2019. The European Council agrees to an extension until 22 May 2019, provided the Withdrawal Agreement is approved by the House of Commons next week. If the Withdrawal Agreement is not approved by the House of Commons next week, the European Council agrees to an extension until 12 April 2019 and expects the United Kingdom to indicate a way forward before this date for consideration by the European Council. It was then put to May by Tusk shortly after 11pm Brussels time after eight hours of talks, with and without the prime minister.