EU leaders have agreed a Brexit extension to 31 January, with an option for Britain to leave earlier if a deal can be ratified, according to a tweet from the European Council president.
Donald Tusk wrote that the bloc would permit a “flextension” - which as Sky News points out, means that if Boris Johnson manages to get his divorce deal through Parliament in less than three months, Brexit will happen sooner.
Earlier, The Guardian revealed that a draft paper of the agreement stated the UK would be able to leave on the first day of the month after a deal is ratified. The document also stated that the EU will not renegotiate the withdrawal agreement.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In a possible stumbling block for the prime minister, the draft paper also says the UK has “an obligation” to nominate a candidate to join the European Commission. Johnson has previously insisted that “under no circumstances” will he nominate anyone to take over from Julian King when the new commission takes office on 1 November.
EU leaders had been expected to announce their decision on Friday, but the French ambassador blocked the extension. France’s European Affairs Minister Amelie de Montchalin told French television on Sunday: “We cannot give extra time based on political fiction. We need to have certainty in order to decide [on an extension], certainty about ratification, about elections or about a second referendum.”
Johnson has told MPs he will give them more time to scrutinise and debate the Brexit deal that he agreed with the EU on 21 October, if they grant him an election after Brexit and before Christmas. MPs will vote later on whether to support Johnson’s call for a general election on 12 December.
Opposition parties had been withholding their support until a Brexit delay was granted because of their fears over a no-deal withdrawal.
But the Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party are now pushing a plan to hold an election on 9 December.
“The few days’ difference means Mr Johnson would not be able to try and get his Brexit deal through parliament before voters head to the polls,” explains Sky News.
-
Political cartoons for December 6Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a pardon for Hernandez, word of the year, and more
-
Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes chargeIn the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
-
Codeword: December 6, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Is a Reform-Tory pact becoming more likely?Today’s Big Question Nigel Farage’s party is ahead in the polls but still falls well short of a Commons majority, while Conservatives are still losing MPs to Reform
-
Asylum hotels: everything you need to knowThe Explainer Using hotels to house asylum seekers has proved extremely unpopular. Why, and what can the government do about it?
-
Taking the low road: why the SNP is still standing strongTalking Point Party is on track for a fifth consecutive victory in May’s Holyrood election, despite controversies and plummeting support
-
Is Britain turning into ‘Trump’s America’?Today’s Big Question Direction of UK politics reflects influence and funding from across the pond
-
Behind the ‘Boriswave’: Farage plans to scrap indefinite leave to remainThe Explainer The problem of the post-Brexit immigration surge – and Reform’s radical solution
-
Russian drone tests Romania as Trump spinsSpeed Read Trump is ‘resisting congressional plans to impose newer and tougher penalties on Russia’s energy sector’
-
What difference will the 'historic' UK-Germany treaty make?Today's Big Question Europe's two biggest economies sign first treaty since WWII, underscoring 'triangle alliance' with France amid growing Russian threat and US distance
-
Viktor Orban: is time up for Europe's longest-serving premier?Today's Big Question Hungarian PM's power is under threat 'but not in the way – or from the people – one might expect'
