European Council President Donald Tusk announced on Monday, 25 February, from Sharm el-Sheikh on the margins of the Arab League/EU Summit (see other news) that he had discussed the previous day with Theresa May, the British leader, the “legal” and practical implications of an “extension” of the deadline under Article 50 of the Treaty.
“In our situation”, this idea, which would temporarily delay the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, would be "a rational solution”, Mr Tusk told the press, although “Mrs May thinks she can avoid this scenario”.
On Monday, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, also met with Mrs May, as their discussions had led to “good progress”, he said.
According to the Commission, this progress has included additional guarantees regarding the backstop to avoid the return of a physical border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as the political declaration on future EU/Post Brexit United Kingdom relations.
Mrs May and Mr Juncker also agreed to find a solution “before 21 March”, the date of the next European summit where European leaders would be invited, if the British Parliament were to ratify the Brexit modalities, to give a kind of final political green light to any additions to the draft agreement on British withdrawal.
From Egypt, the British leader had indicated that she would not hold another decisive vote in the British Parliament on the exit agreement until 12 March, doubling the already slim hopes that a vote would take place on Wednesday, 27 February.
Parliament will only be invited to make further amendments on Wednesday. Some of these amendments should in particular ask the British Government to allow sufficient time to request an extension of the Article 50 deadline in the absence of an agreement with the EU in mid-March.
But the British leader reiterated on 25 February that her project was still to carry out Brexit on 29 March.
In any case, the Commission has described as "pure speculation" information in the British daily newspaper The Guardian that the EU would be prepared to grant the country a two-year extension of the Brexit negotiations, leaving the country a full member of the EU until 2021.
“That would be huge”, said a sceptical source.
A further meeting is planned between the EU Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier (or his deputies, such as Sabine Weyand) and members of the UK negotiating team on Tuesday, 26 February. These exchanges are part of the resumption of the discussions noted on 7 February by Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)