BRUSSELS — European Union leaders on Wednesday called on Britain to give them a clear plan to split from Europe, amid growing concerns that the political chaos that led to a historic defeat for British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan could lead to a chaotic, uncontrolled crash out.
May had been widely expected to lose Tuesday’s vote, but the definitive scale of her rejection — 432 to 202 — helped feed a growing sense in the rest of the European Union that the March 29 Brexit deadline would need to be postponed, even if just to give both sides extra time to prepare for the turbulence that will result from having no safety net of a negotiated transition plan.
The defeat has resulted in a no-confidence vote for May set for Wednesday. If she loses, British politics would plunge into even deeper turmoil. But even if she survives — as she is expected to do, given the math — there are still no clear indications what further plans she might propose or whether she can hold on long enough to deliver any Brexit deal.
But European policymakers also gave little ground on their insistence that any withdrawal deal adhere broadly to the principles of the one that was incinerated in the House of Commons. They said that the onus was on British lawmakers to come up with a proposal — any proposal — that could win a majority at home, so that there could be a basis for continued talks between the sides.
So far, Westminster appears unable to do so, with a clear majority only agreeing on scenarios that would be unacceptable and with no common vision for a single path forward.
The vote was a “crystal clear” rejection of the withdrawal deal, the E.U.’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, told the European Parliament on Wednesday.
Anti-Brexit demonstrators react after the results of the vote on British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal were announced in Parliament square in London, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. (Frank Augstein/AP)
“This vote is not a clear manifestation of a positive majority which would define a positive alternative to the proposal on the table today,” Barnier said. “It’s up to the British government to indicate how we ought to take things forward on March 29 toward an orderly withdrawal.”
But he said that the current agreement was the “objective” outcome based on Britain’s own red lines, including a vow to uphold the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that quelled a long-running insurgency in Northern Ireland. That agreement depends on an open border between the Republic of Ireland, which is remaining in the European Union, and Northern Ireland, which is departing the European Union along with the rest of the United Kingdom.
Ireland has insisted on keeping the border open, and the British government has also said that is a priority, even as lawmakers have objected to the steps to do so in the deal.
[Parliament rejects Theresa May’s Brexit deal]
European leaders said they would not abandon their red lines — and their Irish allies — just to ease the life of an unruly departing member.
“We won’t, just to solve domestic British issues, not defend the interests of the Europeans,” French President Emmanuel Macron said late Tuesday, hitting the British Brexit debate for being based on what he said were false promises from Brexit advocates. “Good luck to the U.K. representatives implementing a thing that doesn’t exist and explaining, ‘You have voted on something based on lies.’”
European policymakers said they planned to wait for the debate to calm in Britain rather than offer any proposals of their own, given the uncertainty about what might pass muster with London. But many leaders seemed to feel more time to talk might be needed.
“When parliament needs more time, then this is something that will have to be considered by the European Council, and personally I would see that as a reasonable request,” influential German minister Peter Altmaier told the BBC. An extension would need the consent of the remaining 27 E.U. leaders. It would be relatively easy to offer one until July, when a new European Parliament needs to be seated, but anything longer would embed the E.U. in a thicket of legal issues.
French leaders, concerned about the ticking clock, appeared to be trying to light a fire under British bottoms on Wednesday,
“It is not up to us, Europeans, to tell to the British what they should do, besides hurry up,” French Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau told France Inter, a broadcaster.
Quentin Ariès contributed to this report.
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