Yahoo Finance May meeting Merkel and Macron to seal Brexit extension
Britain’s prime minister Theresa May is on a whistle-stop tour of France and Germany in a bid to gain support from European leaders to delay Brexit again.
After already delaying Brexit from 29 March, Britain is currently set to leave the European Union at 11pm local time on 12 April. However, May will be holding last minute talks with German chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin and French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday to urge them to back her request to delay Brexit for another two months.
Meanwhile, European Council chief Donald Tusk is pushing for the 27 member states to offer a one-year “flexible” extension to Article 50 — the mechanism that signals the date when Britain leaves the EU — instead. Britain would have the option of leaving the EU earlier if a withdrawal agreement is ratified by the UK parliament.
It’s “the only reasonable way out,” Tusk said.
On Wednesday, there will be an emergency summit where all 28 EU states, including the UK, will vote on an extension to Article 50.
Currently, the UK parliament is in a deadlock over passing a Brexit withdrawal agreement. May has tried to pass her deal four times — each being rejected by a large majority, meaning both those within and outside her Conservative party don’t like the deal.
The UK parliament passed a bill on Monday night brought by a politician in the opposition party — Yvette Cooper — which would force May to request a Brexit delay instead of leaving the EU without a deal on Friday. The bill has also received its Royal Assent from the Queen. This means that there will be another vote in parliament Tuesday evening to approve May’s request to the EU to delay Brexit.
The default position for Britain, if parliament can’t agree to a withdrawal agreement, is a no-deal Brexit. Despite the support from parliament to delay Brexit to avoid a no-deal Brexit on Friday, all the other 27 EU countries have the final say — they can either grant or reject the extension request.
If the other EU member states reject the request to delay Brexit to 30 June, then Britain has two choices — either leave the bloc without a deal or cancel Brexit altogether.
The pound remains under pressure against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) as the goal posts keep changing for Brexit talks and votes. Sterling is resting at around $1.3 against the dollar, but investors will get a clearer view on how Brexit will pan out after Wednesday’s emergency EU summit.
