Aila Mihr, analyst at Danske Bank, notes that the EU Council decided to offer the UK a very short unconditional extension of the Brexit deadline of two weeks to 12 April, with a possible extension to 22 May if the House of Commons passes the Withdrawal Agreement before that.
Key Quotes
“If the House of Commons rejects the deal again, the UK will either leave without a deal on 12 April or alternatively indicate a way forward for the EU Council to consider (i.e., among other things, accept participating in the European Elections in May). PM Theresa May accepted the terms.”
“Basically, the EU leaders’ agreement means that the UK has one more time to pass the deal but keeping the option of a long extension on the table. At the moment, a long extension seems more likely than the deal passing, as during the many votes in the House of Commons we saw a majority wanting to take a no deal Brexit off the table while May has still not found a majority for her deal as of now. That said, we have to watch the response from UK politicians in the coming days to see whether there will be a change of positions in British politics.”