EU agrees to short-term Brexit delay

The 27 countries in the European Union (EU), which remain after Brexit, have agreed to the request for a Brexit delay. However, this delay is shorter than what May requested at the beginning of the week. The heads of government announced this on Thursday evening, March 21.

The heads of government in the EU have set a condition for the postponement. If the British House of Commons still agrees to the Brexit deal next week, there will be a delay until May 22. However, if British Prime Minister Theresa May fails to get the deal through the House of Commons, it will be postponed until April 12. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, also announced on Thursday evening that May has agreed to these conditions.

"In practice, that means that until that day all options remain open," Tusk said in a press conference. If the British don't have a plan before April 12, the country will still without agreement or transition period from the EU. The 27 countries in the EU have already announced that the current agreement will not be renegotiated. 

May has to work
May himself wanted to postpone Brexit until Sunday 30 June, but Tusk said that date is too far away. This means that May will have to work hard with her Brexit deal in the coming days. The deal has already been voted down twice this year by a large majority. Mark Rutte, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, said in Brussels that he hopes that the time pressure will make British parliamentarians change their mind.

Incidentally, the date of May 22 was not chosen randomly. The verkiezingen for the European Parliament start 1 day after that. The British and the EU are both reluctant to allow the United Kingdom to participate in those elections.

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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