Skip to content

Subscriber Only

EU Gives May Another Two Weeks to Avoid a No-Deal Brexit

May accepts offer to extend Article 50 process by two weeks
Tusk says he’s more optimistic about securing orderly exit

Video player cover image — European Union’s Tusk and European Commission’s Jean-Claude Juncker talk about the Brexit negotiations.(Source: Bloomberg)

By

Ian Wishart and

Nikos Chrysoloras

March 21, 2019, 11:22 PM UTCUpdated onMarch 22, 2019, 12:32 PM UTC

European Union leaders staved off the threat of the U.K. crashing out of the bloc without a deal next Friday by giving Theresa May an extra two weeks to work out what to do.

At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, the leaders told May that if U.K. lawmakers don’t endorse her Brexit deal next week, she’ll have until April 12 to decide whether to leave without an agreement or request a much longer extension. The decision removes the immediate possibility of a no-deal Brexit in seven days’ time.