PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany and other European Union powers will accept Prime Minister Theresa Mays request for another delay to Brexit but French President Emmanuel Macron will seek to limit Britains influence as it grapples with its departure.
In a sign of just how far the three-year Brexit crisis has sapped British power, May dashed to Berlin and Paris on Tuesday to ask German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Macron to allow the worlds fifth largest economy to delay for a second time.
More than a week after the United Kingdom was originally supposed to leave, May, the weakest British prime minister in a generation, has said she fears Brexit might never happen as she battles to get a divorce deal ratified by a divided parliament.
After her pledge to resign failed to get her deal over the line, she started crisis talks with the opposition Labour Party in the hope of breaking the domestic deadlock ahead of the April 12 exit date.
But as May arrived at the Elysee Palace in Paris to a guard of honour, she was unable to trumpet any breakthrough with Labour. So May was asking for a delay until June 30.
“People are tired and fed up – but what to do?” one EU diplomat said. “We wont be the ones pushing the UK off the cliff edge.”
Another EU official involved with Brexit said an extension was very probable as no European power wanted the chaos that they fear a no-deal exit would sow through financial markets and the EU 27s $16 trillion (£12.26 trillion) economy.
“Nobody wants to pull the plug by 13th April,” said the official. “But for how long – I dont know. And France will ask a lot of questions in Brussels.”
Shortly before May landed in Paris, an official in Macrons office said that “in the scenario of an extended delay, one year would seem too long for us”.
He added that if Britain did delay its exit, it should not take part in EU budget talks or in choosing the next president of the EUs executive commission – and that the other 27 member states should be able to review its “sincere cooperation”.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Macron would not veto Mays extension but wanted conditions attached.
“He (Macron) certainly wants to know about conditionality, particularly the issue of the United Kingdom being involved in future (EU) decision-making,” Varadkar said.
LONG DELAY?
Earlier in the day, May met Merkel at her riverside Chancellery, a short walk from Berlins Brandenburg Gate, and departed with a warm exchange of kisses.
“The leaders agreed on the importance of ensuring Britains orderly withdrawal from the European Union,” Mays office said in a statement.
While they discussed Brexit, Germanys opposition liberal FDP party drove an advertising van past the Chancellery with a slogan reading: “Dear Theresa May. Just do it. Stop Brexit. Make the most of Europes opportunities.”
In preparation for the emergency summit, the EUs second in two weeks, foreign and Europe ministers met in Strasbourg.
Chief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the bloc was ready to grant a delay, but added: “Any extension should serve a purpose. The length should be proportional to the objective. Our objective is an orderly withdrawal.”
“No-deal will never be the EUs decision. In order to avoid no-deal, the UK needs to agree to a deal,” he told a news conference in Luxembourg.
A nine-month extension to Dec. 31 was gaining favour in Brussels, diplomats said.
But officials are also trying to come up with ways to pressure the British to take a decision sooner rather than later – in part, by offering a long delay that pro-Brexit critics of Mays deal fear might mean Brexit never happens.
In London, Solicitor General Robert Buckland said May would “listen carefully” to any constructive suggestions made by the EU on the length of the extension. He conceded that the government might not have managed to ratify an exit deal in parliament before European elections are held on May 23-26.
The pound, which has seesawed so much on Brexit news that some investors have stepped away from the sterling market, rose and then dipped on speculation Merkel could offer May a better deal. Germany denied that. [GBP/]
DIVIDED KINGDOM
The 2016 referendum revealed a United Kingdom split over much more than EU membership, and has sparked impassioned debate about everything from secession and immigration to capitalism, empire and what it means to be British.
Yet nothing is yet resolved.
Unable to convince enough of her own Conservatives of the merits of her deal to get it passed, May is courting socialist Jeremy Corbyn, whose Labour Party wants to keep Britain more closely tied to the bloc after Brexit.
Labours demands include keeping Britain in a customs union with the EU, Read More
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