Brexit is Deferred to October

Agreement for a six-month extension

An agreement was reached in Brussels on the 10th of April 2019, between the heads of the European Union member states, with regards to a six-month extension to Brexit. The deadline for the agreement is the 31st of October 2019, however, the European Union has agreed with the UK that, they will still be able to exit earlier if the British Parliament settles on a deal before the established deadline. If an agreement is approved before the 22nd of the month, then the extension will allow the UK to back out of the European elections, which will be held in May. According to Theresa May, the UK will leave the EU “as soon as possible” and before the elections will take place. However, this seems highly unlikely, by reason of the fact that they have yet not reached an agreement.

Brexit’s second extension

With this six-month extension, which is the second delay since the original deadline being the 29th March of 2019, the UK has sidestepped a no-deal Brexit on their alternate departure date the 12th of April 2019. Despite the criticism from President Macron of France that an extension which goes further than the 30th of June will not be in the best interests of the EU, the new extension date has been agreed upon. Macron has many times expressed his opinion, about the Brexit situation; the UK’S decision-making powers should be more limited and whether the UK should stay in the EU past European elections.

No consensus on Brexit deal

On the 21st of June, when the member states will meet for another summit, the EU will review the extension. The six-month period extension arises almost after 3 years from the referendum where the UK voted to exit the EU and, after discussions between the opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May which did not stem any amendments with regards to the agreement on which parliament could have voted on.

After Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement was been voted down three times with the Irish backstop and the customs union being the central issues delaying the deal, the Prime Minister has resorted to holding discussions with the opposition party. Moreover, the UK’s future with the EU is still uncertain, as the solution of joining the customs union is only being supported by the opposition party and not by the conservatives.

Even though the six-month extension was fixed, according to Bloomberg, Santander still intends to move staff to Europe, as a no-deal Brexit is still possible, despite new legislation being passed in order to avoid a hard exist. Our recorded webinars can prepare businesses with a post-Brexit solution. Click here to register and watch our webinars!