BRITISH Prime Minister, Theresa May, will travel to Berlin and Paris on Tuesday to discuss Britain’s request for a delay to the date for its departure from the regional bloc, her spokesman said on Monday.

May will travel to Berlin and Paris on Tuesday, a day before a critical EU summit to discuss Britain’s request for a delay.

The prime minister will hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in push to delay Brexit date, which has been pushed back from March 29 to April 12.

The prime minister is due to visit Germany first and then travel to France, the spokesman said.

She wants to push back the Brexit date from April 12 to June 30. May is also expected to speak by phone to many other European leaders ahead of Wednesday’s EU summit, when she is expected to seek a second extension to Britain’s exit date from the EU, the spokesman added.

Britain’s impasse over Brexit casts a cloud of uncertainty over EU leaders meeting for emergency talks in Brussels on Wednesday.

The leaders from 27 EU member states are frustrated with all the Brexit wrangling. They have agreed that April 12 will be the UK exit date, if by then May still has not got the withdrawal agreement passed by parliament.

May’s Brexit deal has been rejected by parliament three times since January. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is in Dublin for talks with the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

They are expected to discuss developments in London, as well as ongoing planning for a possible no-deal scenario.

Last week, the French president said Britain would have chosen a no-deal exit on its own, if its prime minister would not propose a credible alternative plan backed by the majority by April 10.

Under pressure to find majority support for her deal to leave the European bloc, May had to set out future plans to the EU this week, under the terms given by the bloc for the first Brexit extension which is set to end on April 12.

As no withdrawal agreement has been approved yet by British lawmakers, May asked for a second delay to June 30.

EU leaders will meet on April 10 to decide on whether to give Britain an extension and how long it could be. (Xinhua/NAN)

– Apr. 8, 2019 @ 18:59 GMT |