EU bosses fear Theresa May is leading the UK towards a no-deal Brexit at the end of June because she will not ask for enough extra time they believe she needs.
Senior officials believe a delay to the UK’s exit date of March 29 is now inevitable.
But they fear that the PM's strategy of seeking simply to survive from day to day will lead to her requesting an inadequate short three-month extension for fear of enraging Tory Brexiteers.
This afternoon Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, became the first cabinet minister to admit that the two years of negotiations allowed under article 50 may have to be prolonged, describing the current Brexit impasse as “a very challenging situation”.
EU sources suggested that it was unlikely that the heads of state and government of the 27 member states would reject such a request given the pressure that would be applied from the business community.
The EU's deputy chief negotiator, Sabine Weyand, said on Monday that the EU’s heads of state and government would need information on “the purpose of an extension”, adding: “The idea of going into serial extensions really isn’t very popular in the EU27.”
Mujtaba Rahman, a former Treasury and European commission official, who is head of Europe for the Eurasia Group risk consultancy, said: “There’s a growing realisation in the EU that the UK might need longer to get its house in order than the UK itself realises.
“The bar to extending article 50 for the EU will be quite low - leaders love to kick the can. If there is a contentious issue, it’s more about the length of any article 50 extension as opposed to the principle of whether there should be one.”
May is getting ready to head back to Brussels in an attempt to reopen the Brexit deal after parliament voted to replace the Irish backstop in the withdrawal agreement with an “alternative arrangement”.
Brexiteers fear that the backstop, which would keep the UK in a customs union unless an alternative solution can similarly avoid a hard border on Ireland, will stand in the way of the forging of an independent trade policy.
In a call with Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, yesterday May was asked to come up with “concrete proposals”.
Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, tweeted, following a phonecall with the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker that Brexit was “now in final phase”.
“The EU is united; the withdrawal agreement is the best and only deal on the table. Awaiting proposal from UK that is acceptable to EU and will enable ratification in the UK,” he said.
Spoke with @JunckerEU. #Brexit now in final fase. The EU is united; the Withdrawal Agreement is the best and only deal on the table. Awaiting proposal from UK that is acceptable to EU and will enable ratfication in the UK.
— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) January 31, 2019
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel