EU's Tusk calls Brexit delay 'rational', May wants to stay the course

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European Council President Donald Tusk said on Monday that delaying Brexit beyond the scheduled exit date of March 29 would be a "rational solution" as there was no majority in the British parliament to approve a divorce deal.

"I believe that in the situation we are in, an extension would be a rational decision but Prime Minister May still believes she will be able to avoid this scenario," Tusk told a news conference in Egypt a day after seeing the British leader.

Tusk said May and he discussed "legal and political consequences of a possible extension" of Britain's two-year limit on Brexit negotiations that expires on March 29.

Also at a press conference in Egypt, May stressed that delaying Britain's exit from the European Union does not deliver a deal and merely delays the big decision on Brexit.

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"What it does is precisely what the word 'delay' says. It just delays the point at which you come to that decision. And I think that any extension of Article 50, in that sense, isn't addressing the issue. We have it within our grasp," the British prime minister noted.

Speaking about talks with EU leaders, May said: "What I have sensed in all of my conversations with my fellow leaders in Sharm El-Sheikh, and in recent days, is a real determination to find a way through, which allows the UK to leave the EU in a smooth and orderly way with a deal."

On Monday, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said that Ireland would not veto a British request to extend the Brexit timetable for 21 months but it would prefer to see problems with the current deal resolved.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney (L) stands next to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar (R) who is making a statement on Brexit at the Government Buildings in Dublin, Ireland, November 14, 2018. /VCG Photo

He made the remarks after a speech at the UN Human Rights Council.

"We have said consistently that if there's a request for more time and a plan to go with that in order to try to deal with the outstanding issues Ireland certainly wouldn't be standing in the way," he told Reuters.

"But really, I think the focus should be on trying to resolve the outstanding issues at this stage rather than extending Article 50."

The European Commission, however, reaffirmed on Monday that it was still the EU's assumption that Britain would leave the bloc as planned on March 29.

Commission spokesperson Mina Andreeva said Britain's Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and Advocate General Geoffrey Cox will hold talks in Brussels on Tuesday with the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier.

She said commission head, Jean-Claude Juncker, had a "constructive meeting" with May in Egypt on Monday.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (L) greets European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker during a meeting on the sidelines of the first joint European Union and Arab League summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, February 25, 2019. /VCG Photo

She added that "good progress was being made" on three tracks:

- upgrading the EU-UK political declaration on their future ties after Brexit;

- focusing more on what role "alternative arrangements" to the so-called Irish backstop could play in the future;

- looking at "possible additional guarantees" for Britain on the backstop, which is vehemently contested in the UK.

"They agreed on the need to conclude this work in time before the European Council of March 21," Andreeva said.

(Cover: British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with EU Council President Donald Tusk during the first Arab-European Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, February 24, 2019. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters