Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has warned that a no-deal outcome “becomes day after day more likely” as he said that a “strong justification” would be needed from the UK for a long extension of the exit process.
Mr Barnier told an event in Brussels on Tuesday that a long extension could impair “the EU’s decision-making autonomy”, by handing Britain a role in choosing the next set of leaders of the EU institutions.
The comments make clear that Theresa May will need to present a definite plan to EU leaders on how Britain will proceed should she fail to win parliamentary backing for her exit deal in the coming days.
Mr Barnier said that he felt EU leaders would be willing to grant the UK a short further Brexit delay if Mrs May manages to win parliamentary support for her exit deal but needs more time to complete ratification.
He also said the bloc stood ready to amend the political declaration on future relations that forms part of Mrs May’s deal, saying it could be changed to clearly state that the two sides wanted a customs union or Norway style relationship.
But he stressed that the UK’s withdrawal treaty — the product of two years of negotiation — could not be renegotiated and must form part of any exit deal.
“The only way to avoid a no-deal Brexit is and will be through a positive majority [in favour of a deal],” he said.
Mr Barnier underlined that a long extension “has a cost, not only for EU businesses . . . it has a cost also for the UK”. He said such a move would be a “prolongation of uncertainty” that would be damaging for the business environment.
There was no clarity at this stage on what the UK would use a long extension for, Mr Barnier said. “Is it for a new referendum, is it for snap elections? . . . I don’t know . . . but my role and responsibility is to say that there is a cost.”
EU leaders would want an explanation, he said, adding that Britain must take part in May’s EU elections if it wished to stay after May 22.
“We do not need a long extension for negotiation,” he said. “To be clear, during any long extension there will be no renegotiation of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, no, never.
“And during a long extension there will be no negotiation about the future relations . . . It is as simple as that,” he added.
Mr Barnier underlined that for any future relationship talks to take place in a no-deal scenario Britain must respect its financial obligations to the EU and uphold EU citizens’ rights.
