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Brexit: France and Germany split as EU leaders debate length of further article 50 extension - live news
Brexit: France and Germany split as EU leaders debate length of further article 50 extension - live news
(about 2 hours later)
The EU27 have now dismissed Theresa May from the room and they are now engaged in the debate at the centre of this summit - how to respond to Theresa May’s request for an article 50 extension.
Sophie in ’t Veld, a Dutch MEP and deputy to the European parliament’s lead Brexit spokesman, Guy Verhofstadt, told BBC’s Newsnight that MEPs were worried about the UK being a disruptive influence if it gets a long article 50 extension. She said:
We have not heard any detailed account of what May said to the EU27 when she made the case for a Brexit delay until 30 June (her preference), and we do not know what is being said in the room. But some things have emerged from the interviews given by leaders as they arrived at the summit.
It cannot be that we will be held hostage by the UK for who knows, months, maybe a few years even.
This is what we know.
We need to be absolutely sure that the UK is not going to disrupt the work of the European Union. And there is a big question mark of course. Some government leaders have said that we can just have a code of conduct and ask the UK to not disrupt the European Union.
The EU27 have a genuine choice to make about how long the extension should be, and there is no consensus. At some EU summits the conclusions are pre-cooked, but tonight there seem to be a wide range of views around the table. In his letter to leaders sent yesterday, Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, proposed a longer extension than the one requested by May and said: “One possibility would be a flexible extension, which would last only as long as necessary and no longer than one year.” In a draft of the summit conclusions leaked yesterday the end date is given as XX.XX.XXXX. Andrej Babis, the Czech prime minister, told reporters as he arrived that a year-long extension would be “fine”. Mateusz Morawiecki, his Polish counterpart, said he supported possibly a “long extension” because of the dangers of a no-deal Brexit. And Giuseppe Conte, the Italian PM, said “obviously” the extension would have to last more than a couple of months. But Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, said he and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, favoured a short extension. And Marjan Sarec, the Slovenian prime minister, told Politico Europe, which is running a very good summit live blog, that an extension until December would be “a little bit long”. As my colleague Daniel Boffey reports (see 7.45pm), a key division is between Macron and Angela Merkel, the two most powerful leaders in the EU27, who are at loggerheads over this issue.
And then the question is, how reliable would a pledge be from the United Kingdom that they are not going to do that? Because legally speaking, as long as the UK is a member you have full voting rights and there is absolutely no guarantee.
There seems to be no real risk of anyone vetoing an article 50 extension. Macron said that “nothing was guaranteed” as he arrived, but he did not seem to be seriously preparing the ground for doing a de Gaulle (de Gaulle engineered his own version of no-deal, when he twice vetoed the UK joining the EEC) and no leader interviewed on the way in seemed to think there was any real prospect of the UK being forced out on Friday.
Tweets by people like Jacob Rees-Mogg for example [see 10.35pm], that if we stay in the European Union that we disrupt things, it doesn’t create an atmosphere of trust here.
EU leaders were supportive of Tusk proposal, in his letter yesterday, for a longer extension to be accompanied by conditions on the UK. For the record, Tusk said:
From the Sun’s Nick Gutteridge
Some of you have raised concerns that the UK’s continued presence as a departing EU country would pose risks for the functioning of the EU27 at a time of key decisions on its future. To address them we would need to agree on a number of conditions: no re-opening of the withdrawal agreement; no start of the negotiations on the future, except for the political declaration; the UK would have to maintain its sincere cooperation also during this crucial period, in a manner that reflects its situation as a departing member state.
Emmanuel Macron spoke at the end of the first roundtable of EU leaders this evening. He told them he’s ‘in favour of a short extension, and only a short one’ according to a source. Huge gap with most other Member States including Germany. We’re in for a long night...
These conditions are reflected in the draft summit conclusions leaked yesterday.
This is from the BBC’s Adam Fleming.
May seems resigned to not being offered the extension until 30 June that she is requesting. But she downplayed the embarrassment of this likely snub by stressing, as she arrived, that her priority was to get the “flexible extension” proposed by Tusk that would allow the UK to leave as soon as the withdrawal agreement is passed. She still seems to think that the UK will be able to use this option to leave before 22 May (which would enable the government to cancel the European elections in the UK).
UPDATE: SEVENTEEN countries spoke in favour of a long #Brexit extension. 1 for short. 3 open, leaning towards short according to @eucopresident upsum in the summit rooms
May is sidestepping questions about whether she would resign if the UK ended up remaining in the EU beyond 30 June. (See 3.45pm.) This is an issue for her because she told MPs recently that as prime minister she was not willing to delay Brexit beyond 30 June. (See 4.02pm.) She did tell MPs recently that she was not planning to remain in office for the next stage of the Brexit talks, but that offer to quit was predicated on the basis that MPs would pass her deal, which they have not, and now it is not clear at all how long she will seek to stay in Number 10. On Radio 5 Live earlier today David Gauke, the justice secretary, said he thought May could stay as prime minister for another year. He explained:
These are from the Daily Mirror’s Pippa Crerar.
She has said that if we can get through phase one and that we leave the EU, she has made it clear that she will then leave as leader of the Conservative party and the PM, and be replaced by someone who would then negotiate phase two.
EU source on Macron: "He is in a bit of a schizophrenic situation - (his) domestic audience demands that he is tough on Britain for historic reasons. On the other hand, France is among the most-hit in any no-deal Brexit. It will take hours before we pull him down from his tree."
If we can’t get phase one dealt with, then if we are still in middle of negotiations, if there is still considerable uncertainty, then ... it may well be the case that the last thing we need as a country is a leadership election at that point, and the right thing would be for Theresa as prime minister to continue to get this process done.
So Macron may end up being the one who gets the UK what it wants but is doing it to be tough on us. I'm not sure I understand EU politics.
Antonio Tajani, the president of the European parliament, has dismissed the idea that it would be acceptable for the UK to elect MEPs (if it is still a member of the EU on 23 May) but for them to not take up their seats (if the UK leaves before the end of June, before the new parliament has met). (See 6.37pm.) This is problematic because May does seem to believe that this is an option.
This is from Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory Brexiter, responding to a New York Times article about the German Europe minister, Michael Roth, criticising Rees-Mogg for saying the UK would be disruptive if forced to stay in the EU.
Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, has said that he would like the UK to stay in a customs union with the EU and that, in those circumstances, it should be given a role in deciding EU trade policy. (See 5.26pm.)
A Eurocrat thinks it is out of order to stand up for democracy, it is typical of their high handed approach and encourages us to be difficult.https://t.co/bYVHCPYnux
Here are the EU leaders around the summit table.
Theresa May is now having dinner with her team in a discreet location away from the Justus Lipsius building where the 27 are arguing over the length of the article 50 extension while eating warm scallop salad, cod with shrimps and an iced macademia nut parfait.
This is from the Telegraph’s James Crisp.
One consequence of any decision to grant a longer delay to Brexit is likely to be that she attempts to cling on as leader for even longer.
Theresa May has left the summit building for dinner. She is expected to return later.
Some Tory MPs, such as Peter Bone, have questioned if she should now stand down after saying she would not “as prime minister” entertain a delay longer than June 30. (See 4.02pm.)
France and Germany are understood to be at loggerheads over both the length of the extension and the conditions that the EU should put on a delay to Brexit.
On the 20th March, at PMQs, I asked the PM about an extension to Article 50. She said “As Prime Minister, I could not consider a delay further beyond the 30th June.” So, if the PM intends to keep her word, can we expect her resignation later tonight?
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is arguing that a short extension to 30 June is unlikely to provide enough time for the impasse in Westminster to be broken, and Berlin is seeking an extension until 31 December.
But Tory sources are clear that she has abandoned her position that she could not support a long delay, saying she would accept an extension as long as it has a break clause if her withdrawal deal passes.
Germany believes that the biggest incentive for Conservative MPs to back the Brexit deal is the threat of holding European elections.
In contrast, May has not dropped her pledge to stay on for as long as the first phase of EU negotiations last and carry on attempting to pass her withdrawal agreement for as long as it takes. In practice, this could be nine months or a year if the EU grant a lengthy extension.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, is understood to looking at a very short extension, possibly up until immediately before the European elections, sources have said. There could be a further extension if the UK signs up to stringent conditions, Macron has said.
This is what a senior Tory source says:
The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg has the iPad scoop. (See 6.22pm.)
When she made the announcement at the 1922 [Committee] and in front of parliament that she was prepared to stand down as prime minister once we had completed phase one of the negotiations and for there to be a new leadership in place for phase two, effectively that is the ratification of the withdrawal agreement. That remains the case.
IPAD NEWS! the gag was apparently a side by side pic of May and Merkel taking questions in their own parliaments this afternoon, wearing the same colour of jacket..... #brexitbantz, kind of
She understands that the Conservative party feels a sense that new leadership is required for the second phase of negotiations. That was the commitment she gave to her parliamentary colleagues and that’s one she stands by.
Theresa May has now finished making her pitch to her fellow EU leaders.
Conservative MPs may try take matters out of her hands and attempt to force her out. But their hands are somewhat tied by the rules of the 1922 Committee that mean she cannot face a challenge within 12 months of the previous one - in December last year.
Now she is out of the room, and the EU27 are deciding what to do next.
And while we’re on the subject of comments BTL, thank you to everyone who has provided an answer to my query about “Brexit-Krimi-Nacht”. (See 9.37pm.) Here is a selection of the responses - all giving substantially the same answer, but with some readers picking up slightly different nuances from what is implied.
This is the key meeting of the evening.
It sounds like a German version of the joke about tonight being the season finale of the Brexit box set.
Q&A session with PM @theresa_may finished. Next: EU27 discussion on #Brexit.
I don’t know if this was intentional, but Theresa May and Angela Merkel are both fans of lowbrow detective drama. Merkel likes Midsomers Murders. (David Cameron apparently arranged to watch one when Merkel visited Chequers, as part of his doomed attempt to butter her up.) And May likes NCIS - another extremely undemanding crime drama.
This is from BuzzFeed’s Europe editor, Alberto Nardelli.
The plot twists in Brexit are infinitely more thrilling ...
EUCO: I’m told PM May’s intervention is so far more solid than usual, though not many specifics. Sense is that May is open to a longer extension, as long as it can be terminated early, source says. Leaders have many questions.
"Krimi-Nacht" seems to cause some confusion. It mainly means you binge-watch some detecitive stories.Bit like Hercule Poirot, Inspector Clouseau and Kommisar Rex all trying to figure out what Brexit means, while at the same time asking Miss Marple if she also knows anything about it?
At his press conference Antonio Tajani, the president of the European parliament, made it clear that he was not happy about the idea of the UK electing MEPs on 23 May, only for them to not take their seats in the parliament if Brexit took place before 30 June. Theresa May seems to think this would be possible, but Tajani said he disagreed. These are from the Sun’s Nick Gutteridge.
"Krimi" is here coloquial and idiomatic. Here, perhaps "night of suspense"; journalese would be "night of (high) drama.".
EP Pres Tajani: ‘We’re not going to be taken for granted. Electing MEPs and then them not taking up their posts, please, that’s not possible. We’ll fight any action that hinders the image of our institution.’ Says he’s ‘fine’ with Boris Johnson’s dad standing in EU elections.
Possible translations in general - "a cliffhanger", "on tenterhooks".
So if UK decides to hold elections on May 23 then leave before June 30, as is the PM’s plan, the EP is going to be very unhappy indeed...Tajani was basically saying such a scenario would make a mockery of his institution.
It's the short form of "Kriminalroman", which literally means "detective story", or "crime/detective thriller".
Here is the iPad clip. (See 6.22pm.)
"Krimi-Nacht" would be a long evening with one of the detective films that are so popular in Germany, where you have to guess who done it, till the end. They can be very long, or at least seem very long, until the solution. The metaphor can also be used for a football game "Fußball-Krimi", and, alas, for Brexit.
The tablet. #EUCO pic.twitter.com/EXlf1UM6Ft
Krimi-Nacht translates as thriller night Andrew. No real crime planned except the total waste of time and energy Brexit involves.
Here is footage of the EU leaders milling around at the start of the meeting.
I think the joke with the Brexit Krimi Nacht comment is that Krimi are usually considered low quality, cheap TV thrillers. That’s why’s its funnny
Roundtable at today's Special #EuropeanCouncil #Article50 https://t.co/B1ApsLLBIR
Andrew: the German word "Krimi" usually means a thriller (like a film or novel) so "Brexit-Krimi-Nacht" is a phrase which evokes a night of watching a Brexit horror film :)
The highlight came when Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, showed Theresa May something on her iPad. May responded with a burst of laughter.
I am afraid we are going to have to close the comments at 10.30pm. I am sorry about that, but our comments need to be moderated, we have not got an infinite supply of moderators, and the ones that we do have, who are all excellent, do sometimes like to go home.
Sadly, the EU does not provide audio with this footage, so we don’t know what the joke was.
From my colleague Jennifer Rankin
Here is Theresa May sitting alongside Donald Tusk at the European council meeting.
Theresa May was "better than last time but still somewhat evasive on the big questions" says one EU source.Member state views vary. EU27 discussions ongoing.
#euco #brexit pic.twitter.com/OhHowz1RNi
These are from the Irish Times’ Pat Leahy.
Antonio Tajani, the president of the European parliament, is now holding a press briefing after his session with the EU leaders. (See 5.37pm.)
A read from inside the Council room – several leaders have spoken, vast majority in favour of a long extension, with some favouring December and some March of next year. Dutch PM Mark Rutte spoke first. Macron has not spoken yet.
He says he has eight points.
Overwhelming expectation that there will be a long extension agreed though there still significant French opposition to this.
First, it is important to end the uncertainty around Brexit, he says.
Mrs May told leaders that she believes she can get Withdrawal Treaty passed, that negotiations with Labour are “going well” according to a person briefed on the early exchanges. This was not widely believed by EU leaders.
Second, he said a no-deal Brexit could be avoided at all costs.
She said the UK government doesn’t expect to run EU elections, but they will if they have to.
Third, he says the parliament wants to see an agreement between the government and the opposition in London as soon as possible.
Asked if Mrs May had given a “detailed road map” to passing the treaty and exiting, one source briefed on the discussions said – no, because she can’t.“The end of year seems to be the preference,” says a source.
Fourth, he says he wants greater clarity about the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
Florian Eder at Politico Europe says this tweet, from a German journalist, matches what we have been told about picture on Angela Merkel’s iPad that caused her and Theresa May some amusement. (See 6.22pm.)
Fifth, he says the parliament wants more clarity about what is being negotiated in London, and it wants to know if there will be a clear majority of a way ahead.
#May und #Merkel zeitgleich in London und Berlin, bevor sie wieder gemeinsam in Brüssel eine Brexit-Krimi-Nacht durchmachen. @phoenix_de pic.twitter.com/aezOzrSKOo
Sixth, he says the parliament wants to know the UK will do if no agreement is reached. Will there be a referendum or a general election, or will article 50 be revoked?
Twitter translates this as “#May And #Merkel at the same time in London and Berlin before they go through a Brexit crime night together again in Brussels.” I’m afraid the “Brexit-Krimi-Nacht” reference is a bit beyond me. If someone can explain BTL, please do ...
Seventh, he says an extension must not be allowed to reopen the withdrawal agreement.
From my colleague Jennifer Rankin
Eighth, he says if the UK remains in the EU beyond the European elections, it must take part in those election. But the elections should not be viewed as a game, he says.
Many EU leaders asked Theresa May about the EU elections, according to a senior source. France is proving hardest to convince that Theresa May is serious about UK participation in elections if long extension.
He says these are the points he made when he addressed EU leaders earlier.
These are from the Telegraph’s James Rothwell and the Express’s Joe Barnes.
He says, asked what would happen to British MEPs after Brexit, he said they would not be able to stay in the parliament.
Sources say all member states have backed an extension of some duration. Understand France leaning towards June extension. But whispers also that Macron thinks leaving with no deal is less risky than UK disrupting EU from within
The session with the president of the European parliament, Antonio Tajani, is over. Now the European council is starting its session with Theresa May, who will formally make her request for an article 50 extension lasting until 30 June.
Hearing from diplomatic sources that Emmanuel Macron will be one of the last of the EU27 leaders to take the floor during the discussions on Theresa May’s Brexit delay. Talks currently ‘difficult’.
She set out her case in the letter she sent to Donald Tusk, the council president, last week.
From my colleague Jennifer Rankin
Exchange with @EP_President finished. Next: PM @theresa_may will exchange views with EU27 leaders. #brexit #euco
Emmanuel Macron is taking the strictest line at the summit, as expected. Senior French source says that endangering the functioning of the EU "is not preferable to no-deal".
Here is the Guardian’s story from the opening of the summit.
From the AFP’s Damon Wake
May signals she would accept EU offer of longer Brexit delay
Elysee source says France isn't ruling out a long extension 'but we'd need a justification that so far we haven't had'.
Here is a clip of Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, speaking to the media when he arrived earlier. He said any article 50 extension would have to be “useful” and “serve a purpose”.
And this is from my colleague Daniel Boffey.
Any extension has to be useful and serve a purpose. Our common purpose is to get the ratification of the withdrawal agreement.
Summit: Told May didn’t push back against suggestion of long extension in address to leaders, instead insisting priority was to be able to leave once the deal approved. The PM asked leaders to avoid situation in which would have to return to Brussels to ask for extension.
This withdrawal agreement is the only was to ensure an orderly withdrawal of the UK which is our common purpose.
As he arrives at the EU summit, Michel Barnier says "any extension has to be useful and serve a purpose"Get live updates as Theresa May asks EU leaders to delay Brexit until 30 June https://t.co/1qEIEYOoan pic.twitter.com/Z5VZa1WTNW
This is from Preben Aamann, Donald Tusk’s spokesman. EU leaders have just started the first item on the summit agenda - a meeting with Antonio Tajani, president of the European parliament.
Tusk has just started the special #euco on #Brexit. First an exchange of views with @EP_President Tajani.
Xavier Bettel, the prime minister of Luxembourg, proposed “an intelligent extension” as he arrived at the summit. Asked what length extension he favoured, he said:
I would support an intelligent extension. If it’s long or short, the main point for me is that we have European elections. You can’t be a member and have no elections ...
If there is a longer extension, there is no lunch for free. So we need to know why, the reason they need a longer extension.
He also said that he hoped Brexit would be a “friendly divorce”.
Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, was more reflective than most of the other EU leaders when he spoke to reporters on the way in. Here are the main points he made.
Varadkar said he was “very confident” that the UK would be offered another extension and that there would not be a no-deal this Friday. But what he did not know was how long the extension would last, or what conditions would be attached.
He said the “vast majority” of people in the EU were sympathetic to Britain’s plight. He said:
I think the vast majority of people here in the European Union appreciate that the United Kingdom is in a difficult position. It does not want to leave without a deal at the moment, it doesn’t want to vote for the deal and of course a lot of people, maybe even half the population, don’t want to leave at all. So I believe the consensus here in Brussels, and across the European Union, will be to give the United Kingdom a little bit more time for the cross-party talks that are happening to conclude. And we can review the situation then in a few months’ time.
He said he wanted to see the UK in a customs union with the EU, and that the EU should agree to let the UK have a say when it negotiates trade deals. He explained:
One thing I would like to be considered, and I know it is under consideration, is the possibility of a customs union being formed between the United Kingdom and the EU. Ultimately the European Union, we are the biggest trading bloc in the world. We trade more than China. We’ve a bigger population than the US. And, in a world of big blocs, it’s in the interests of the UK to be part of one of those blocs. It is also in our interests to have the UK in our bloc. I think we would be generous negotiating that, understanding that the UK could not be a silent partner in such an arrangement. It would have to have a say in decisions being made.
Because of the shared border, Ireland would benefit more than any other EU economy from having the UK in the customs union, and so Varadkar’s support for the idea is not surprising. But this may be the first time he has floated the idea of the UK being able to have a say over EU trade policy as a third country. This is something that the Labour party is also proposing, as part of its customs union plan, but until now it has generally been seen as an unrealistic demand in Brussels.
Varadkar said Britain’s adversarial political system was part of the problem. He said that he understood Theresa May’s difficulties, because he does not have a majority in parliament either. He went on:
Perhaps other countries in Europe, including Ireland, have more of a tradition of political parties working together and compromising. The British approach to politics is much more adversarial. I’m not sure, on balance, that’s actually in the UK’s longterm interests.
Here are some extracts from what Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said as she arrived at the summit.
Merkel bei EU-Gipfel in Brüssel: "Wir sollten offen und konstruktiv mit der Bitte der britischen Premierministerin um Verlängerung umgehen. Ein geordnetes Ausscheiden Großbritanniens aus der EU ist auch in unserem Interesse." #Brexit
Anyone wondering what Merkel said: "We should be open and constructive with the British Prime minister's Request for An extension. An orderly Withdrawal of Britain from the EU is also in our Interest. " #Brexit https://t.co/5awVIPzWOQ
