AFP, Brussels :
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.
