Prime Minister Theresa May asked the European Union on Friday to delay Britain's departure until June 30 while Brussels suggested that it might be best to postpone the split for up to a year. The competing visions of how to unwind Britain's 46-year involvement in the European project will be hashed out again at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday and EU leaders have already reacted sceptically to May's request.
The current Brexit deadline of April 12 has already been pushed back once from March 29 because of the UK parliament's repeated failure to back the deal May signed with the other 27 EU leaders in December. May's formal request to EU Council president Donald Tusk said Britain thinks the delay "should end on June 30 2019" - the same date she asked for and was refused at the last EU summit last month.
"If the parties are able to ratify (the withdrawal agreement) this date, the government proposes that the period should be terminated earlier," May wrote in a letter released by Downing Street. A senior EU official said that Tusk's own idea for a "flexible" 12-month extension "will be presented to member states today".
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