High fives as EU says: Pass deal or crash out
BRUSSELS last night dramatically raised the stakes over Britain’s request for a Brexit delay ahead of a showdown summit today.
EU Council chief Donald Tusk said it was ‘possible’ Theresa May’s call for a three-month extension would be approved.
But he warned it would be ‘conditional’ on her deal being passed by the Commons at the third try.
That appeared to significantly raise the risk of No Deal next week, although Mr Tusk suggested he would consider an emergency summit if the deal is voted down again. However, that would probably only be to offer a much longer extension.
EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, who was seen high-fiving Mr Tusk ahead of today’s Brussels summit, said Mrs May ‘must bring clear ideas’ for an extension to be granted. EU leaders were last night divided over how tough to be on Mrs May, with French president Emmanuel Macron said to be taking a hard line.
Reports suggested he could even veto Britain’s request for a delay at today’s summit if he fails to be convinced that Mrs May can pass her deal in the coming days.
Yesterday, amid the turmoil, Irish premier Leo Varadkar called for Mrs May to be cut ‘some slack’.
He added: ‘There is a real risk of No Deal happening by accident.’
Germany is also understood to be more sympathetic towards Mrs May while Belgium, like the French, are toeing a harder line.
It came after she published a letter to Mr Tusk yesterday saying she will seek a Brexit extension until June 30. The remaining EU27 leaders must agree unanimously to the request if it is to be granted. Permission would not be formally given today but the leaders would agree that they could approve it after a Commons vote if MPs pass the Withdrawal Agreement. Mr Tusk said: ‘I believe a short extension will be possible, but to be conditional on a positive vote on the Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons.’
He said the end date was still ‘ a question which remains open’ as members are divided over whether a short extension should run until June 30 or end earlier before EU Parliament elections on May 23.
An extension beyond the May elections without the UK taking part in them ‘creates a series of questions of a legal and political nature,’ he said.
A third Commons rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement could force the PM to return to Brussels to ask for a lengthier extension to try to avoid No Deal on March 29.
The bloc would demand far stricter conditions for such a request, which would lead to a softer Brexit or even a second referendum.
Insisting the EU had acted with ‘patience and goodwill’, Mr Tusk said: ‘Even if the hope for a final success may seem frail, even illusory, and although the Brexit fatigue is increasingly visible and justified, we cannot give up seeking until the very last moment a positive solution.’
A senior diplomat from one EU member state said their leader would need to be convinced by what the PM says tonight. They said: ‘Perhaps May will say different things tomorrow than what we read today in the letter.’ However, senior sources say that privately most member states have suggested they will almost certainly approve an extension in the event Mrs May’s deal passes.
‘Hope may seem frail and illusory’