After extending the Brexit deadline from 29 March to 10 April and then from 10 April to 31 October, the Twenty-Seven again showed flexibility towards London on Monday 28 October by agreeing in principle on a further extension until 31 January 2020 of the period provided for in Article 50 of the Treaty, which was supposed to lead to Brexit, as proposed by the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk (see EUROPE 12354/11).
The national ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) gave the green light at a very brief meeting of about 15 minutes. They opted for a flexible extension ('flextension'), i.e. the possibility of terminating this extension as soon as the agreement on an orderly withdrawal approved on 17 October has been definitively ratified by Westminster and the European Parliament. This extension may thus be completed on 1 December or 1 January, depending on any such ratifications.
By giving the green light, Coreper has once again set its conditions. It stipulates that no reopening of the agreement leading to an orderly Brexit would be allowed within three months. The United Kingdom is also required, as a Member State, to appoint a European Commissioner. France, which was still being the spoilsport until this weekend, finally accepted this new extension after asking for assurances that the United Kingdom would not in any way disrupt the proper functioning of the EU. London will therefore again be asked to remain discreet during the meetings of the Twenty-Seven.
However, with this agreement in principle, things were no longer, once again, solely the will of the Member States. It was indeed up to the United Kingdom to accept this extension and an agreement to this effect was reached by Boris Johnson at the end of the day. In a letter to Donald Tusk, the British Prime Minister expressed his wish that no further extensions would be possible after 31 January 2020. This letter thus launched the written procedure required by the Council of the EU to formally validate this extension.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was still to try, on the evening of 28 October, to get MPs to accept his plan for parliamentary elections in the country, which could be called on 12 December.
According to the British media, a success in the House of Commons on Monday evening on this election proposal could have the effect of restarting consideration of the text of the withdrawal agreement, which MPs first approved, in an indicative manner, on 22 October (see EUROPE 12354/11). According to Le Monde, the consideration, or even the definitive approval of the agreement, could therefore occur even by 6 November.
However, according to the same media reports, the British leader would need to fail to pass this motion for parliamentary elections. The opposition, particularly the Labour Party, is totally divided on this issue. Mr Johnson would therefore not have the required two-thirds majority of the House of Commons.
In the event of Mr Johnson's failure on Monday, part of the opposition - including the Scottish SNP and the Liberals of the Liberal Democrats - would also be able to propose, the next day, early elections on 9 December. In this case, a simple majority of British MPs would be required and potentially achievable if the Prime Minister's Tories were to support it.
But, to call these elections on 9 December, the Lib Dems are demanding that the government abandon its plan to have the withdrawal agreement validated before the elections... (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)