‘Halloween’ Brexit delay approved by EU leaders

London: Brexit has been delayed again, this time to Halloween, after a fraught meeting in Brussels where France reportedly confronted Germany over fears the UK could prove a force for chaos if it lingered in the EU.

EC President Donald Tusk, left, speaks with British Prime Minister Theresa May, centre, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and Luxembourg's PM Xavier Bettel, second left, prior to a dinner during an EU summit in Brussels. Credit: AP

British Prime Minister Theresa May had come to the meeting asking for a delay to June 30, after the House of Commons failed to approve a Brexit deal, and the UK faced a disastrous "no-deal" exit on Friday.

She told the meeting her proposed delay would provide enough time to either agree on a compromise Brexit deal with the Labour opposition, or find a new consensus in Parliament.

But Europe's leaders were reported to have been dubious on prospects of a majority Brexit emerging that quickly in Britain. Some leaders - led by Germany's Angela Merkel - wanted to give the UK up to a year to recalibrate its Brexit expectations.

Others - led by France's Emmanuel Macron - were concerned the UK could cause serious problems for the Union if it was left in limbo.

They feared that May would be deposed and replaced by a more fiercely anti-EU prime minister, who might try to block EU policies or even its budget.

Feeling blue... British Prime Minister Theresa May arrives in Brussels on Thursday to ask EU leaders to delay Brexit.Credit: AP

They compromised on a delay to Brexit until the end of October - and Theresa May agreed to the new date.

"The delay is... a little bit shorter than I expected but it's still enough to find the best possible solution," European Council president Donald Tusk said at a 2am press conference following the long leaders' debate. "Six months could be enough for a good solution if there's goodwill and a majority for some solutions in London."

Despite earlier speculation the UK would face conditions on how it should behave during the delay, in the end it was only asked to agree to continue in "sincere cooperation" with the EU's bodies, and was told the other 27 countries could occasionally meet without the UK to discuss the future after Brexit.

Tusk said the EU's intention was "to have some political guarantees that the UK will not use any kind of political blockings or tricks to be distractive or to stop our work or to use this possibility as a political instrument", and he said he trusted May's promises not to do so.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said Britain had "very very limited" opportunities to block EU decisions.

Tusk pleaded with the UK: "please do not waste this time", and pointed out the UK could ratify the current Brexit divorce deal, "reconsider the whole Brexit strategy" or even "cancel Brexit altogether".

But he insisted that the basics of the Brexit divorce deal could not be renegotiated, including the controversial irish "backstop". Only the "political declaration" setting out expectations for the future trade and customs relationship between the UK and EU could be rethought, he said.

I am too old to exclude another [delay]...Everything is possible.

EC President Donald Tusk

Tusk also conceded that October 31 might not be the last delay to Brexit.

"I am too old to exclude another [delay]," he said. "Everything is possible."

Theresa May said she continued to believe the UK should leave the EU as soon as possible.

If a Brexit deal is ratified by the House of Commons the UK will not need to wait until October. It could still leave as early as May 22, May said.

"I know there is huge frustration from many people that I had to request this extension," May said. "The UK should have left the EU by now."

She said she "sincerely regrets" not persuading Parliament to back her Brexit deal, and pledged to "press on at pace" to find a consensus.

"Nothing is more pressing or more vital," she said.

The new October 31 deadline is significant because, although the UK would temporarily have representatives in the European Parliament, it would likely not get a vote on the new batch of commissioners in Brussels' vast and powerful EU bureaucracy, the European Commission.

The date was reached after more than six hours of debate, some of it over dinner, in Brussels between the leaders of the 27 countries which will form the post-UK European Union.

A long delay will infuriate many of May's Conservative colleagues and could mean the end of her premiership, though she is reportedly determined to see the Brexit divorce deal done, and cannot face another formal leadership challenge until December thanks to a failed coup at the end of 2018.

Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith told the BBC May’s "firm date of departure" should be in May or June.

"To have a leadership contest in the Conservative Party [that] is going to take the better part of 10 to 11 weeks, and that will take you to the autumn, so this thing is going to have to happen," he said.

Government and Labour delegates are due to meet again on Thursday to try to thrash out a united plan for Brexit that could command a majority in the House of Commons.

Sticking points reportedly include Labour’s desire for a post-Brexit customs union with the EU and a “confirmatory vote” – that is, another referendum on the final deal.