EU Member States Have Control Over Whether Article 50 Will Be Delayed

EU Member States Have Control Over Whether Article 50 Will Be Delayed

By Ben Kerrigan-

EU member states will unanimously decide whether extending Article 50 will be granted after British Mps voted for an extension today, Wednesday.  The UK was scheduled to be out of the EU by 29 March, but today’s vote now means this is very unlikely to happen.

An EU spokesperson said  the granting of parliament’s request  would need the “unanimous agreement” of all EU member states.And it would be for the leaders of those states “to consider such a request, giving priority to the need to ensure the functioning of the EU institutions.

The law laid down by EU bosses  may be an indication of how frustrated they have become with the deep divisions in Westminster over the Brexit deal negotiated between them an Theresa May. Only recently, EU president, Donald Tusk (pictured)stupidly tweeted that those who voted for Brexit had a special place in hell for championing a political course over which they had no sketch of an idea of how to execute it.

If it were down to Tusk, he will hang the British government to dry. Tusk and Juncker could easily hold plenty of sway of how the other member states vote on the matter, the next few weeks and month will reveal a lot on this very divisive issue.

MPs  voted today  by a large margin of 413 to 202 for  Theresa May to request a delay to Brexit plans. The British prime minister said Brexit could be delayed by three months, to 30 June, if MPs back her deal in a vote next week.

If they reject her deal again then she says she will seek a longer extension – but any delay has to be agreed by the 27 other EU member states.

net members – meaning Mrs May had to rely on Labour and other opposition votes to get it through.

But some Labour frontbenchers resigned to defy party orders to abstain on a vote on holding another referendum. Ironically, the prime minister herself voted for a delay to Article 50, confusing many Brexitiers who have always believed she was committed to Britain’s departure on March 29. Her decision to join the delay group was political in nature, given the wave of opposition from her own party about the current deal presented by the EU.

Ms May had warned of a political crisis if Mps rejected her deal on Tuesday, but appears to have accepted that her divided party needed her support in order for them to proceed with one voice after she lost her own voice on Tuesday.

She has warned that extending the departure date beyond three months could harm trust in democracy – and mean that the UK would have to take part in May’s European Parliament elections. Parliament is in its worse crisis in a generation.

 

 

 

 

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