13 October 2019

The Guardian: EU ready to grant Brexit extension in build-up to key summit

Jean-Claude Juncker has talked up the prospects of a Brexit extension beyond 31 October as EU officials downplayed the chances of a breakthrough in time for the EU Council's crunch summit.

As talks on Johnson’s latest Brexit proposals continued in Brussels, the European commission president said he would back a prolongation of the UK’s membership if it was sought.

“It’s up to the Brits to decide if they will ask for an extension,” Juncker told the Austrian newspaper the Kurier on Sunday. “But if Boris Johnson were to ask for extra time – which probably he won’t – I would consider it unhistoric to refuse such a request.”

Johnson updated his cabinet on Sunday lunchtime about the state of play in negotiations with Brussels before a make-or-break week for his premiership.

The prime minister is still hoping to make enough progress at a European council meeting on Thursday to be able to hold a Commons vote on his Brexit plans in a rare Saturday sitting next weekend.

After presenting what aides called a “final offer” to the EU27 in his party conference speech less than a fortnight ago, Johnson signalled to Dublin that he was ready to make significant concessions on the future status of Northern Ireland.

Since Johnson and the Irish taoiseach met on the Wirral last Thursday, officials have been working on an agreement that would in effect keep Northern Ireland in the UK’s customs territory but apply EU tariff rates at its external border.

The proposal appears similar to Theresa May’s “new customs partnership”, but for Northern Ireland alone rather than the whole UK.

A dozen British officials led by Johnson’s chief negotiator, David Frost, were in talks with the European commission’s Brexit taskforce on Sunday but sources in Brussels downplayed the possibility of a major breakthrough.

“A Northern Ireland-only backstop as proposed by the EU in February 2018 could be landed by the European council on Thursday – anything else will not,” said one diplomatic source. [...]

Full article on The Guardian

Related analysis on Verfassungsblog: Why the European Council Must not Reject an Article 50 Extension Request

© The Guardian