European Union leaders agreed to extend the date by which Britain must withdraw from the European Union to October 31, officials said Wednesday, after UK Prime Minister Theresa May asked to delay Brexit to avoid crashing out without a deal.
Click on the video player above to watch FRANCE 24's live coverage.
May accepted the EU's proposed extension, European Council president Donald Tusk said in a tweet.
Under its terms, the UK would be obliged to take part in European elections starting on May 23 or leave without a deal on June 1.
The agreement also allows for the UK to leave the EU earlier if a withdrawal agreement is ratified by both London and Brussels.
A review of the extension will take place at the EU's scheduled summit in June.
The deal followed an emergency summit in Brussels that stretched on long into the night.
May had asked other EU leaders to agree to delay Britain's exit – set for Friday – until June 30 while she pushes the UK Parliament to ratify a deal and pass the legislation needed for a smooth Brexit.
Some were sympathetic, but French President Emmanuel Macron had looked the most likely to hold out.
"Nothing is decided," Macron said, insisting on "clarity" from May about what Britain wants.
"What's indispensable is that nothing should compromise the European project in the months to come," he said.
Macron had wanted to withhold any commitment to extend the deadline much beyond the European Parliament elections of May 23-26 unless May commits herself, and any potential successor, not to disrupt the workings of Brussels.
"Not everything is preferable to a no-deal. A no-deal situation is a real option," a French presidency official said.
A Brexit delay beyond EU Parliament elections will force Britain to participate in the vote and elect representatives to the EU assembly – an option May had wanted to avoid is now inevitable.
May made the case for the delay at a pre-dinner meeting in Brussels, saying she believed a June 30 deadline is enough time for Britain's Parliament to agree a deal.
But British lawmakers have already rejected her EU divorce deal three times and also voted down eight alternatives to Brexit put forward by the House of Commons. Subsequent attempts to forge a compromise with her political opponents in the Labour Party have yet to bear fruit.
May spoke to the 27 other EU leaders for just over an hour before they met for dinner without her to decide Britain's fate.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and REUTERS)
