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The EU had been preparing to make limited concessions over the much-loathed Irish border backstop to help May convince Parliament to back her deal. But the 230-vote loss on Tuesday night changed that: European governments now believe a more fundamental shift is needed and the move has to come from the U.K. side, three diplomats said.
It adds to growing evidence that Brexit is unlikely to happen on the long-scheduled date of March 29, with European governments willing to delay Britain’s departure well into the second half of the year, according to diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
But they told May she needs to enter into credible cross-party discussions to ensure there’s a unified British position on Brexit, then present the EU with a roadmap for the way forward.
And that’s what May is now doing. After narrowly surviving a confidence vote on Wednesday, May invited the leaders of rival parties in for talks on how to move ahead with Brexit.
EU diplomats say the next step could be to reopen the political declaration -- the part of the agreement dealing with future relations -- to make it clearer that ties will remain close after the split. [...]