Brexit extension is not guaranteed, say EU
The Bloc will not be held hostage and a self-inflicted no-deal may be the only option, says Macron
THE European Union will not be “held hostage” by the political crisis in Britain and may reject a demand for an extension to avoid a no-deal Brexit at next week’s emergency EU summit, Emmanuel Macron said yesterday.
“A long extension involving the participation of the UK in the European elections and in the EU’S institutions is far from evident or certain to be granted,” the French president said the day after MPS failed to back any single course of Brexit action in a series of indicative votes.
“Should the UK be unable to – three years after the referendum – propose a solution backed by a majority, they de facto will have chosen by themselves to leave without a deal. We cannot avoid failure for them,” the French president said.
Extending the Brexit negotiations will pose a “significant risk” to the EU, Michel Barnier said in Brussels before warning that Britain would need “strong justification” for any extension to avoid a no-deal that was “day after day more likely”.
Mr Macron said that Theresa May would need to explain a Brexit strategy to justify any extension, which is likely to last between nine months and two years.
“Should this plan be new elections, a referendum, a different selection as to the future relationship such as a customs union – it’s not for me here to say so. We’re open to it, but it’s for London to say so, and to say it now,” he said.
EU27 ambassadors last week discussed the conditions that would be attached to any extension. They include Britain holding European Parliament elections, a plan from Mrs
May on how to deliver Brexit, EU budget contributions and a promise to not disrupt EU decision and policy making.
Mr Macron was speaking in Paris alongside Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, who said the EU should be open to a request to extend Article 50 beyond the April 12 deadline at an April 10 summit.
France insists that there must be customs checks on, or close to, the Irish border on goods and animals from Northern Ireland after a no-deal Brexit to “ensure the integrity” of the single market.
But Mr Varadkar would prefer a long extension, and is desperate not to lead a government that brings back the hard border and risks reigniting the Troubles. “Let me repeat it strongly here today: our priority shall be the good functioning of the EU and the single market. The EU cannot sustainably be the hostage to the solution to a political crisis in the UK,” Mr Macron said.
“I’m fully aware of the tremendous difficulties such a situation would bring about for Ireland,” Mr Macron added. “We will never abandon Ireland or the Irish people no matter what happens, because this solidarity is the very purpose of the European project.”
Mr Varadkar said: “There is still time for the prime minister to come to the European Council with proposals that are credible and have a clear pathway to success, and I think we need to be open to any proposals that she may bring forward to us.”
Pressure is growing on Dublin to say what it will do with the Irish border if there is a no-deal next week, with Angela Merkel expected to demand answers from Mr Varadkar tomorrow ahead of Wednesday’s summit.
Ireland has been told it will have to carry out customs checks on goods and animals to ensure they meet EU standards after no deal. Dublin and Brussels are in talks over whether those checks could be carried out away from the border.
In return, Brussels will insist Britain implements a backstop-style solution in Northern Ireland, even if there is a no-deal. The EU believes that Britain will be forced back to the negotiating table shortly after a no-deal Brexit and will make the backstop and the £39billion Brexit bill a precondition of restarting talks.
Simon Coveney, the Irish deputy prime minister, said: “Ireland is not going to allow a situation where the UK leaving the EU without a deal drags Ireland out of the single market with it.”
Mr Barnier said the EU would still accept a customs union arrangement with the UK, which he noted was only narrowly defeated in the House of Commons on Monday night, or a Norway-style arrangement. Both of those options could help avoid a hard border in Ireland after Brexit.
‘Should the UK be unable to propose a solution, they will de facto have chosen by themselves to leave without a deal’