The European Union is cooling on the idea of a long extension to Britain’s membership of the bloc, and bracing instead for a no-deal outcome, a senior diplomat said.
Some countries, notably France, are reluctant to allow a longer extension even if Theresa May asks for one and agrees to the condition of holding elections to the EU Parliament, the diplomat said. A long extension is now increasingly being viewed within the EU as problematic, particularly because of fears the U.K. could disrupt EU business, the diplomat said.
The EU’s response on Friday to May’s third defeat on her divorce accord was to say a no-deal scenario is now "likely." The bloc says it’s ready for the disruption.
But there’s a third possibility to no-deal or a long extension and it’s the one May’s team is hoping for: get her deal or a variation of it signed off before a summit on April 10 and then ask for a short extension to tidy up the legislation. The diplomat said the EU would consider it but would need strong guarantees that the way ahead was clear and that Parliament was behind the plan. [...]
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