Europe cuts the Brexit extension and corral the British Prime Minister – 21/03/2019

London will have its extension to leave the European Union (EU) and a last chance to avoid a brutal "Brexit" that would put on its knees its economy and its place in the world. But this delay will be in line with the conditions and deadlines that European leaders established yesterday in Brussels, after listening for an hour and a half to the British Prime Minister, Theresa May.

At the end of this edition, the 27 other leaders have finalized a schedule that, for London, will be a test. The EU has advanced the Brexit date to May 22, when it requested June 30. It is necessary to present it before the European elections of May 26th.

Clarin Bulletins

What happened today? We tell you the most important news of the day and what will happen tomorrow when you get up

Monday to Friday afternoon.

This extension is subject to the approval by the British Parliament, next week, of the agreement that his government concluded at the end of 2018 with the EU and that these same deputies have already rejected twice.

If the agreement is rejected for the third time, the extension will be advanced until April 12. The day before, the 11th, the British government will have to notify Brussels when it will hold the European elections on its territory.

If this is the case, he will have to ask for a long extension, which could go as far as December 31st or even 2020. If London announces that there will be no European elections on UK territory, the UK will leave the EU on April 12 without agreements. Jump into the void remains an open option.

The draft conclusions of the summit, approved by Clarín, also reminds May that any promise made to his deputies to accept the agreement must be compatible, in the letter and in the spirit, with what he says. He negotiated with the EU.

Diplomatic sources said many leaders asked May what their plans were if the British parliament rejected the deal. The Prime Minister did not answer. According to these sources, May would have given the impression of not having a project.

The Europeans are now waiting for May to submit this agreement to a vote so that the UK can leave the EU on 22 May in an orderly manner. If he succeeds, May will end the agony. Otherwise, the Brexit will go into a drawer and Brussels will wait for May 's resignation, early elections in the UK or even holding a second referendum.

London is gaining time due to the inability of its parliament to decide how to leave the European Union without putting the country on its knees. May is breathing well though the Europeans had paved the road last night and left her with no alternative.

Participating in the European elections and deferring indefinitely the Brexit would be the most dramatic option for the Europeans who led the Brexit and could cause an unprecedented constitutional crisis in the UK: cancel the whole process and stay in the bloc.

The EU Court of Justice has already decided that this option was open until the last day and that it was within the exclusive competence of London, without the other governments being able to block it.

The pressure on British MPs is not only European. The English business world is starting to get nervous. The Bank of England reiterated yesterday that a Brexit without agreement would have far-reaching consequences.

In a letter to May, a group of business and union leaders warned that the country would face a "national emergency" as it came out of the EU in a haphazard manner.