Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (prime minister), has also said that MPs at Westminster should not assume that the EU27 would inevitably agree to a Brexit extension. Speaking at his post-summit press conference in Brussels, Leo Varadkar said:
" The position that we have agreed as the European council is that as things stand there is no request from the UK for an extension, if for some reason a request came, then Donald Tusk – president of the European council – would consult individually with all the European leaders to see if we would agree to such a request.
But bear in mind that request would have to be agreed unanimously by all 27 leaders, so I don’t think MPs voting tomorrow should make the assumption there would be unanimity for an extension. But our point of view has always been that we would be open to it, but it would be a mistake to assume that it’s a guarantee, given that it requires unanimity by all 27 member states.
He also said although Ireland would be open to an extension to allow more time for the House of Commons to ratify a deal, there was no plan B. He explained:
Plan B is no deal, and we’re all preparing for that, and we’ve all been preparing for that since the referendum, but let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
#LeoVaradkar
#BrexitDeal
#Ireland
0 Comments