The EU will now “take a break” from the Brexit process and be able to focus “on its positive agenda”, said the institution's spokesperson Margaritis Schinas on Thursday 11 April, commenting on the “satisfactory” outcome of the 10 April summit.
The extraordinary summit led the Twenty-Seven to grant a six-month extension to the United Kingdom to allow Parliament to pass the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration on future relations (see EUROPE 12233/1). Under this compromise, the United Kingdom will remain a member of the EU until 31 October, unless it ratifies the withdrawal plan before that date, in which case it will withdraw on the first day of the month following that step.
In any case, the country will nevertheless be obliged to hold European elections if it is still a member of the EU after 22 May. A rather “curious” situation, Jean-Claude Juncker conceded the previous evening, “but it is the rule”.
This result is all the more satisfactory for the Commission because it states that “there will be no renegotiation of the agreement during the extension period”, added Margaritis Schinas. The unity of the Twenty-Seven has also been “preserved”, although the front cracked a little during the night between France, which favours a limited extension, along with a few other countries, and the countries united behind Germany, which preferred to play the long game.
For Leo Varadkar, the Irish Prime Minister, this compromise has made it possible to “give the United Kingdom time to reach an agreement with the Labour Party”. The EU “is not a prison”, he said, but it is “also a home, and we are not going to throw anyone out”.
In any case, Theresa May was scheduled to address the House of Commons on Thursday 11 April. For his part, the EU negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, who therefore, in theory, still leads the exit process until the day before the new European Commission takes office, met in Brussels on Thursday morning with the leader of the DUP, the Northern Irish party allied to Mrs May.
According to the British media that met with her, Mrs Foster reiterated to Mr Barnier that a solution must still be found for the much-discussed Irish "safety net" that the Twenty-seven refuse to modify, just like the withdrawal agreement.
Does this mean that the question of renegotiating this agreement will, despite everything, be reconsidered during the extension, either by the May government or by a government led by another political leader? Among the groups in the European Parliament that took a stand during the night, this did not seem to be too much of a concern. The Greens/EFA group welcomed the agreement, which avoids a disaster on 12 April, and “the political realism” that underlies it. And even if, “obviously”, a prolonged membership of the country in the EU creates “risks for the smooth running of the EU”, it also creates “opportunities for all those in the United Kingdom, including the Greens, who want to increase political pressure for a second referendum”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and editorial staff)