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EU ambassadors also discussed the issue for the first time at a meeting in Brussels, as the member states attempted to plot out their terms for extending the negotiating time beyond 29 March.
With Downing Street opening cross-party talks after the government’s historic defeat, EU politicians and officials were looking ahead in the event that the prime minister finds a majority in the Commons for a fresh approach.
Peter Altmaier, Germany’s finance minister, suggested he would see it “as a reasonable request” if the UK wanted an extension. Nathalie Loiseau, France’s EU affairs minister, confirmed that a delay would be possible in the right context.
A similar argument was made by Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, during a late-night private meeting with senior members of the European parliament in the hours immediately after the Commons vote. The EU has previously suggested that only a general election or second referendum could persuade them to delay Brexit.
On Wednesday, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, also became the first EU leader to publicly raise the prospect of an extension beyond European elections in May. “Maybe they will step over the European elections in order to find [negotiate] something else,” Macron said, comments that represent a subtle shift in tone, as France has long insisted that there could be no prolongation of article 50 beyond the elections.
During Wednesday’s meeting of ambassadors and senior EU officials, several member states raised the issue of extending the two years allowed under article 50 for withdrawal talks. [...]