European Union members agreed Monday to postpone Brexit for up
to three months, stepping in with their decision less than 90 hours
before Britain was due to crash out with no divorce deal.
The
next deadline for departure will be January 31 next year—although the
other 27 capitals would allow an earlier date if London ratifies a
withdrawal agreement before then.
"The EU27 has agreed
that it will accept the UK's request for a Brexit flextension until 31
January 2020," the president of the European Council representing member
states, Donald Tusk, tweeted.
"The decision is
expected to be formalised through a written procedure," he said, after
ambassadors met in Brussels to approve the extension.
According
to a copy of the agreement seen by AFP, if Prime Minister Boris Johnson
convinces the UK parliament to approve an amicable divorce accord
before next year, Brexit could be on November 30 or December 31.
But
in the meantime London must nominate a senior official to serve on the
next European Commission and must agree that the withdrawal agreement it
struck last month will not now be renegotiated, according to the EU
text.
Leaving the ambassador's gathering, EU negotiator Michel Barnier
said it had been a "short and efficient and constructive meeting,"
adding: "I'm very happy that a decision has been taken."
A
delay could have been agreed last week, but Paris was reluctant,
concerned it would do nothing to boost the chances of Britain deciding
how to handle the end of its five-decade relationship with the EU.
Johnson
had been pushing for a definitive break on October 31 after finally
striking a withdrawal deal with fellow EU leaders at an October 17
summit.
But he has yet to persuade sceptical British
MPs to ratify the accord, raising the spectre of a chaotic "no-deal"
Brexit and severe economic disruption in the United Kingdom.
In
the meantime, he is trying to break the logjam—and strengthen his
tenuous grip on office—by demanding an early election to secure a
parliamentary majority.
But the British opposition has
been reluctant to deliver the two-thirds vote needed to approve a snap
poll until the threat of a disorderly Brexit is off the table.
The
expected decision to postpone Brexit beyond the end of the month would
do this, but Paris wanted EU capitals to wait until the UK election
timetable was clear.
On Monday, however, European
diplomats told AFP they would wait no longer and would make a decision
without further delay after Britain agreed it would not try to change
the withdrawal deal.
"The conditions of the extension
have been specified and reinforced, notably on the fact the deal is not
renegotiable," a French diplomatic source told AFP in Paris.
Later
Monday, Johnson was to ask the House of Commons to vote on a snap
election, which he wants to hold on December 12 -- after MPs have had
time to ratify his Brexit deal.
However he faces defeat on that move, as with his two previous election calls.
He needs the support of two-thirds of the 650 MPs, but does not have even a simple majority.
The
Labour party dislikes Johnson's Brexit deal and says it will not back
an election until his threat of leaving the EU with no deal at all is
removed.
More than three years after Britons voted
52-48 percent for Brexit in a 2016 referendum, the country and
parliament remain divided.
Johnson, a leader of the
"Leave" campaign, took office in July this year vowing to take Britain
out of the European Union on October 31 whatever happens.
But
MPs rebelled against his threat to sever 46 years of ties without a
deal and passed a law requiring him to seek a delay if they refused to
accept his divorce terms.
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