Brexit, against the clock: the European Union subordinated the extension requested in May to the approval of the agreement to Parliament

The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, conditioned on Wednesday a short extension of negotiations on the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU) to the House of Commons to ratify the Withdrawal Agreement between London and Brussels.

Nine days after the deadline for leaving the UK, the month of May saw forced to ask for an extension after the British parliament rejected the second time last week the closed divorce agreement with Brussels and reject a day after the scenario of a Brexit without agreement.

In a statement to the press after talking on the phone with the British Prime Minister, Tusk said the short extension "is possible", but that is "conditional on the positive vote of the House of Commons to the divorce agreement. "

Tusk added that the duration of this extension "is still open", although May has asked in a letter to Tusk himself to delay the "brexit" until June 30 of this year.

"Prime Minister May's proposal of June 30, which has its positive aspects, creates a series of legal issues and politics. The leaders will discuss it tomorrow, "Tusk said of the summit that will begin Thursday in Brussels.

Indeed, the date proposed by May it is problematic if the UK decides not to hold elections to the European Parliament. According to EU rules, all EU Member States are required to organize the vote of the European Parliament in their territory.

Thus, if EU Member States give the green light to an extension until 30 June, the United Kingdom would violate the legislation if it does not hold elections, then on July 2, when the next European Parliament is formed, it will no longer belong to the EU.

The leaders of the twenty-seven countries that will remain in the bloc after the British march must unanimously authorize this rejection or reject it and intend to badyze this issue at the summit in Brussels on Thursday. .