Brexit: How can Article 50 be extended?
MPs are due to vote on Thursday on whether to delay Brexit by extending Article 50, if they vote on Wednesday to rule out leaving the EU without a deal on 29 March. How would the process work?
The UK triggered Article 50 on 29 March 2017, which means that it is set to leave the EU on 29 March this year. The default position in law at the moment is that - deal or no deal - 29 March is when Brexit will happen, whether the UK is ready or not.One way around this would be for the UK to ask for Article 50 to be extended to allow more time to finalise a deal, or perhaps come up with an alternative outcome via an election or another referendum.
It is also possible in theory that a decision could be made even later, perhaps at ministerial or ambassadorial level, as long as it took place by 29 March. The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier told the European Parliament:"It is the responsibility of the United Kingdom. They have to tell us what it is they want for our future relations, what will their choice be? That is the question that has to be answered before a decision on a possible further extension."
That means that the outgoing parliament, including UK members of the European Parliament , could be asked to sit in special session if it was needed to ratify a Brexit deal.But any extension for longer than three months, while possible in theory, gets into much more tricky legal and political territory.
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