This request for delay is the result of a surprise vote in the House of Commons on Saturday afternoon.
The negotiations on the Brexit continued, Sunday, October 20, despite the request of the United Kingdom of a new postponement. This request, resulting from a surprise vote in the House of Commons on Saturday afternoon, will be the subject of consultations likely to last " several days "between Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, and the leaders of the Twenty-Seven, according to a European source.
It was discussed quickly, but not debated, Sunday morning, during a short meeting in Brussels of the ambassadors of the Twenty-Seven, around the European negotiator Brexit, Michel Barnier, said one of the participants in the meeting. An appointment that was planned even before the new rebound occurred Saturday in London.
At the meeting, which lasted " fifteen minutes " and was "Technique" according to this participant, the ambassadors mainly mentioned the continuation of the process of ratification, on the European side, of the withdrawal agreement concluded this week between London and Brussels.
"What was decided Thursday remains on the table"
"As expected, the European ambassadors have seen each other this morning to set the next steps for ratification by the EU" of the agreement, Barnier told reporters after the meeting. The agreement is yet to be ratified by the European Parliament, which is meeting this week in plenary session in Strasbourg.
"What was decided Thursday remains on the table"a European source said on condition of anonymity. And to add:
"The British Parliament has not rejected the agreement, so there is no need to change course. Proceedings are initiated on the European side for the EU to ratify the treaty, for the European Parliament to be seized and give its approval. "
There was a desire on the part of the ambassadors to "Show their unity" facing London, according to another European diplomat.
Three letters
Saturday, with a planned vote on the triumphantly announced agreement in Brussels two days earlier, was to finally clarify the situation more than three years after the 2016 referendum in which the British signaled their willingness to leave the EU .
Conclusion: the decision is postponed and the Europeans find themselves Sunday with three contradictory letters. Boris Johnson was forced by a vote of his Parliament Saturday to write late in the evening to the European Union to ask him to postpone the divorce, while saying in another missive, not wanting this new extension .
