The European Union has reached an agreement on the night of Wednesday to Thursday to postpone for the second time the departure of the United Kingdom from the club, on this occasion, from April 12 to October 31, according to diplomatic sources. The pact, accepted by the British Prime Minister Theresa May at 2:00 am, gives London more time to ratify the exit agreement, as Germany wanted, and allows the United Kingdom to be excluded from the next European Commission, as France put it.

EU27 has agreed an extension of Art. 50. I will now meet PM @theresa_may for the UK government’s agreement. #Brexit

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) April 10, 2019

LIVE NOW – my remarks following the special meeting of the European Council on the UK’s request to extend Article 50. #EUCO https://t.co/keXduhw2hq

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) April 11, 2019

The risk of the difficult balance is that the new pact will not even add pressure to the British Parliament to approve the exit agreement, as President Emmanuel Macron wished, with a very short extension (until the end of June) or to scare the British Eurosceptics with the prospect of a cancellation of Brexit, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel aspired, with its plan for a postponement until 2020.

“It is always better to have a little something than a lot of nothing,” said the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, a strong supporter of postponing the departure of the United Kingdom for another year. “Maybe he’s not happy, but he’s satisfied with this solution,” Tusk added.

The EU and London agree on the delay of the Brexit until October 31 Brussels raises the United Kingdom corner during the extension to avoid sabotaging the EU institutions.

The EU and London agree on the delay of the Brexit until October 31 Tusk proposes a maximum one-year extension of the Brexit to not import the political chaos of London.

Neither Tusk nor the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, dared to give definitively the new departure date, given the background in London since the Brexit referendum in June 2016. “We will see in October what happens”, Juncker pointed out. “Our wish is for the UK to be ready by then,” Tusk said.

The agreement has been reached after several hours of negotiation between the 27 community partners about whether or not to delay the Brexit again. May had requested an extension until June 30, with the commitment to seek an agreement with the Labor opposition to form a parliamentary majority in favor of the exit agreement, blocked in Westminster since last November.

The pact achieved seeks a balance between those in favor of gaining time, to see the political evolution in the United Kingdom, and those who want a deadline to settle the exit process once and for all. The first group was headed by Merkel. And the second, by President Macron.

Merkel’s group accepts a shorter extension of the 12 months to which it had aspired. That of Macron, one beyond the initial two months, but manages to set a deadline that excludes the United Kingdom from the upcoming renewal of community institutions. The period of the current European Commission ends on October 31. And the new one could be constituted, in principle, without a British representative, as long as the country is no longer a member of the EU, on November 1.

Macron feared that the presence of London in the EU during the next few months would cloud a process of renewal in which numerous community positions will be decided. The extension obliges the United Kingdom to participate in elections to the European Parliament next May, if May fails to complete the exit before May 22. But their MEPs must leave the Chamber on October 31 and the future British Commissioner will never take his place if the departure is confirmed at the new scheduled date.

The agreement of the 27 also reminds London of its obligation to maintain “loyal cooperation” with the club, as required by the EU Treaty. And it establishes a formula of 27 + 1 that will allow the community partners to hold meetings with each other at all levels and with the Commission without a British presence.

The battle, however, is far from over. The agreement provides for a review of the situation at the European summit next June, in which it could be played in Brussels, depending on the situation in London, the same shock happened on Wednesday night, where the two European visions of the Brexit collided.

The almost infinite understanding of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, with the difficulties of London to approve the Brexit agreement faced the growing exasperation of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, before a retreating partner who can block his dreamed “European renaissance” “, So he asked May to commit to a clear road map for the exit.

The extraordinary summit on Wednesday was the result of the request for an extension of the British prime minister, Theresa May, who wanted to delay the Brexit again (postponed once from March 29 to April 12) until June 30. May made it clear on his arrival at the summit that he could accept “any extension” that would allow the
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