ENGLAND AND EU ACHIEVE BREXIT REVISION AGREEMENTS
Britain and the European Union reached a revised Brexit agreement in the final minutes of Monday night with them finally eliminating the biggest obstacle point in their Brexit divorce agreement, just hours before the British Parliament will decide on an agreement on Tuesday (12/3) night.
Ahead of the parliamentary vote, May flew to Strasbourg, France, to look for revisions, guarantees or other changes from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker who would persuade British legislators who were reluctant to support withdrawal agreements with the European Union.
PM May said the new documents to be added to the agreement provided "legally binding changes" to parts relating to the Irish border. The legal withdrawal agreement of 585 pages was left intact.
"In politics, sometimes you get a second chance. What you do with this second chance is taken into account. Because there won't be a third chance," Juncker warned British lawmakers who would vote or not in the draft on Tuesday night.
May said the changes must address parliamentarians' doubts about the mechanisms in the agreement designed to keep open borders between Northern Ireland and the EU member states of Ireland. The mechanism, known as backstop, is a protection that will keep Britain in the customs agency together with the European Union until there are new permanent trade relations.
Brexit supporters in the UK are worried that the backstop can be used to tie the country to EU regulations without limits even though the UK itself has been released from the EU on March 29.
May said the new words "will guarantee that the European Union cannot act with the intention of implementing backstop without limits."
"Now is the time to jointly support this better Brexit agreement and fulfill the wishes of the British people," he said.
But the change seems to be far from the demands of pro Brexit MPs at the UK exit mechanism from the backstop. They want the UK to decide to leave the customs agency with the EU unilaterally without an agreement with the EU.
Pro-Brexit lawmakers said they would read the draft agreement on the revised results first and await the decision of the British attorney general before deciding how to vote on Tuesday.
Britain and the European Union reached a revised Brexit agreement in the final minutes of Monday night with them finally eliminating the biggest obstacle point in their Brexit divorce agreement, just hours before the British Parliament will decide on an agreement on Tuesday (12/3) night.
Ahead of the parliamentary vote, May flew to Strasbourg, France, to look for revisions, guarantees or other changes from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker who would persuade British legislators who were reluctant to support withdrawal agreements with the European Union.
PM May said the new documents to be added to the agreement provided "legally binding changes" to parts relating to the Irish border. The legal withdrawal agreement of 585 pages was left intact.
"In politics, sometimes you get a second chance. What you do with this second chance is taken into account. Because there won't be a third chance," Juncker warned British lawmakers who would vote or not in the draft on Tuesday night.
May said the changes must address parliamentarians' doubts about the mechanisms in the agreement designed to keep open borders between Northern Ireland and the EU member states of Ireland. The mechanism, known as backstop, is a protection that will keep Britain in the customs agency together with the European Union until there are new permanent trade relations.
Brexit supporters in the UK are worried that the backstop can be used to tie the country to EU regulations without limits even though the UK itself has been released from the EU on March 29.
May said the new words "will guarantee that the European Union cannot act with the intention of implementing backstop without limits."
"Now is the time to jointly support this better Brexit agreement and fulfill the wishes of the British people," he said.
But the change seems to be far from the demands of pro Brexit MPs at the UK exit mechanism from the backstop. They want the UK to decide to leave the customs agency with the EU unilaterally without an agreement with the EU.
Pro-Brexit lawmakers said they would read the draft agreement on the revised results first and await the decision of the British attorney general before deciding how to vote on Tuesday.
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