Today, the European Union Council of EU leaders will meet at an extraordinary summit to discuss the Prime Minister’s request for an extension to Article 50 until 30 June 2019. The European Council President, Donald Tusk, has suggested EU leaders consider a longer extension than she has asked for. Tusk’s letter to them regarding this can be found here.
An extension can only be granted with the unanimous agreement of all EU leaders. If they do not agree on an extension, or the Prime Minister does not accept the length of extension offered, the default situation remains that the UK will leave the EU without a deal on 12 April 2019. This can only be avoided if one of the following occurs prior to then:
- Parliament ratifies the Withdrawal Agreement.
- The UK revokes Article 50.