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BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU leaders are expected to hold a special summit on Brexit in mid-November as they hope to sign a divorce agreement with Britain, diplomats and officials said on Monday. .
Anti-Brexit protesters wave flags in front of Houses of Parliament, London, UK, September 10, 2018. REUTERS / Hannah McKay
With the problem of the Irish border still the main stumbling block, the EU ministers meeting in Brussels next Tuesday will discuss the holding of the extraordinary summit because they no longer expect to reach an agreement when of a regular gathering scheduled from October 18th to 19th.
Earlier, Brexit European negotiator Michel Barnier said at a forum in Slovenia that a divorce agreement with Britain could be reached in six to eight weeks if the negotiators were realistic in their demands.
Barnier's comments pushed sterling to its highest level in five weeks.
Some diplomats said November 13 was a date for the extraordinary summit, while others said it was still a moving target.
Some EU officials have stated that an agreement with Britain in December, or even in January, could leave enough time for the UK and European parliaments to ratify the agreement.
The least likely scenario, but some European diplomats have also considered, is that Britain would ask to extend the talks beyond the current release date of March 29, 2019.
Such an extension would be very complicated at the national level for British Prime Minister Theresa May, who is under intense pressure from sections of her Conservative Party to honor that departure date. The remaining 27 EU Member States will also have to agree to any extension of the negotiations.
According to EU sources, this would only be possible if the negotiators were really on the point of reaching an agreement and running out of time for purely technical reasons, rather than for political quarrels.
In any case, they say that an extension would only be possible for a few weeks, since the current European Parliament – which must approve any Brexit agreement – will hold its last plenary session on 15 and 18 April 2019.
The EU will hold elections in May to choose a new assembly and the consensus in Brussels is that Britain must go out by then.
Additional report by Kylie MacLellan; Edited by Gareth Jones
