(UTV|COLOMBO) – European Council president Donald Tusk says the EU should consider offering the UK a “flexible” delay to Brexit of up to a year, with the option of leaving earlier if a deal is ratified.
He said there was “little reason to believe” a Brexit deal would be approved by the extension deadline UK PM Theresa May has requested – 30 June.
Writing to EU leaders, he said any delay should have conditions attached.
It is up to EU members to vote on the proposals at a summit on Wednesday.
A draft EU document circulated to diplomats ahead of the emergency summit also proposes an extension but leaves the date of the proposed new deadline blank.
The UK is currently due to leave the EU on Friday.
So far, UK MPs have rejected the withdrawal agreement Mrs May reached with other European leaders last year, so she is now asking for the leaving date to be extended.
Meanwhile, Mrs May has been meeting French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin for talks ahead of the summit.
Afterwards, Ms Merkel said a delay that ran until the end of this year or the start of 2020 was a possibility.
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