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German Chancellor Angela Merkel is willing to back a delay, but the Bundestag’s legal opinion limits her scope to manoeuvre. The legal opinion of the German parliament is that if the UK fails to organise elections by May 25-26, it would not only violate the rights of UK citizens, but also EU citizens residing in the UK.
The European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said on March 1 that any delay to the UK’s exit from the EU “must not put off the problem, but resolve the issues at hand.”
During his recent visit to Austria, Bernier reiterated that the EU did not intend to reopen negotiations on the so-called ‘Irish backstop’, one of the key sticking points in the Brexit negotiations. The backstop is an insurance policy to ensure there is no hard border in Ireland once the United Kingdom officially withdraws from the EU.
In an interview with Die Welt published on March 2, Barnier made clear that Brussels is ready to offer “further guarantees, assurances, and clarifications that the backstop should only be temporary.” [...]