European Interest

Special Brexit summit in mid-November

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A special summit on Brexit will be held by European Union leaders in mid-November. This is when they hope to have finally reached a Brexit deal with Britain.

Next week, they will discuss holding this extraordinary summit because they will not be ready to make a deal at the regularly scheduled summit in October.

As reported by the Reuters news agency, the EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told a forum in Slovenia he believed a divorce deal with Britain could be agreed in six to eight weeks if negotiators are realistic in their demands.

However, some diplomats said November 13 was one date under consideration for the extraordinary summit, though others said it was still a moving target.

According to Reuters, the least likely scenario, but one that some EU diplomats have also considered, is that Britain would ask to prolong the talks beyond the current exit date of March 29, 2019.

In a separate report, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted that British police chiefs have reportedly even drawn up contingency plans to deal with civil unrest in the event of Britain leaving the EU with no deal in place, citing fears of shortages of food and goods could lead to disorder.

Last week he told British MPs that a deal on the terms of Britain’s divorce from the bloc was 80% agreed.

But he warned them it was at risk of being scuppered by any failure to strike a deal on the border between EU member Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland, reported AFP.

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