Back deal and you can still leave before elections, says Juncker
‘Mrs May will need to produce a good reason to convince leaders of a short extension’
BRITAIN could leave the EU on May 22 without holding European Parliament elections, Jean-claude Juncker said yesterday, but only if MPS back the Brexit deal when they vote on it for a fourth time.
However, EU diplomats warned that their leaders would insist at a Brussels summit on April 10 that Britain must prepare for the European elections as a safety net to prevent an accidental nodeal Brexit.
Speaking in the European Parliament Mr Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said: “If the United Kingdom is in a position to approve the Withdrawal Agreement with a sustainable majority by April 12, the EU should be prepared to accept a delay until May 22. April 12 is the ultimate deadline for the approval of the agreement by the House of Commons. If it has not done so by then, no further short extension will be possible.”
A long extension, which could be from nine months to two years, would mean Britain holding European Parliament elections, which will take place from May 23-26.
On Tuesday, Mrs May said she would ask EU27 leaders for a long extension with a cut-off date of May 22 if the agreement could be passed.
However, EU27 heads of state have little faith the agreement will be passed, even if Mrs May works with Jeremy Corbyn to try to deliver a majority in the Commons. One EU diplomat said: “There must be European Parliament elections in the UK. Mrs May will need to produce a good reason to convince leaders of a short extension.”
Another said: “I’m afraid this time no extension until May 22 will be granted unless they participate in the European elections or if they approve the agreement, which looks unlikely. The elections are the real cliff edge now.”
Yesterday, No10 said the process of preparing Britain for European elections would begin within days.
The Prime Minister will use a statutory power known as an order in council – which does not require MPS to vote – to start the wheels turning ahead of the April 12 deadline for notifying the EU of an intention to take part in the elections.
It will mean Britain can take part in the elections if it has to, but can halt the process any time before election day on May 23. Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator, said the EU should avoid a long extension when Britain would still retain influence over Eu-decision-making, especially as it was not clear Mrs May would be in charge for long.
“Can you imagine a little bit that the new prime minister Mr [Boris] Johnson and Mr [Michael] Gove, both the architects of the Brexit disaster, would have the keys in their hands to the future of the EU?” Mr Verhofstadt asked.
Mr Juncker warned that a damaging no-deal Brexit on April 12 was “now a very likely scenario”.
“The only ones who will benefit from no deal are those that are against a world order based on rules,” he said. “The only ones that will be strengthened will be the populists and the nationalists. The only ones who will be delighted will be those who wish to weaken the EU and of course the UK.”
He added that the UK would be affected more than the EU because there is no such thing as a “managed or negotiated no deal” or a “no-deal transition”.
Mr Juncker said that even if there were a no-deal Brexit on April 12, Brussels would insist that Britain paid the £39 billion Brexit bill, guaranteed there would be no hard border, and safeguarded EU citizens’ rights in the UK.