United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum
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Eleven days before the UK Parliament votes again on the withdrawal agreement, the EU signals further concessions in the Brexit negotiations. Brussels, for example, apparently wants to take a step towards Prime Minister Theresa May in the "backstop" case.
"We know that there is a mistrust in the UK, the backstop could become a trap in which the British are forever bound to the EU," said EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier the "world" (Saturday edition). "We are ready to provide further warranties, assurances and clarifications that the backstop should only be temporary."
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The "Backstop" is one of the most controversial topics of Brexit. because when leaving, the transition between Ireland and Northern Ireland becomes the new EU external border. To avoid fences and barriers in the former crisis region, Brussels and London want to conclude a free trade agreement.
In the event that negotiations are not concluded within the agreed transitional period after the British left the Union, the backstop should take effect. An emergency mechanism that would allow Britain to remain in the Single Market and Northern Ireland for the time being. A hard limit with controls would not be necessary then. However, there are sharp criticisms of the solution in London: Brexit hardliners fear that they will be chained to the EU indefinitely.
Unregulated Brexit still possible
The lower house had recently told Prime Minister Theresa May to vote on a Brexit shift option if the treaty was rejected again.
However, Ivan Rogers, the former British EU Ambassador, warned against believing in the SPIEGEL conversation that it would be out of the way of risking an unscheduled exit from the EU. "It is still seriously possible that we will remain paralyzed and without a way out even after March, so there is a risk that we will leave without any agreement in June or July, and I think there is not much desire in Europe's capitals To offer us extensions until we know what we want, "says Rogers.
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However, Barnier reiterated that the EU Member States are open to extending the Brexit deadline, albeit with conditions. The states wanted to know what the shift should be good for. The EU's chief negotiator confirmed that a prolongation of the Brexit deadline had to be decided by the European Council, unanimously.
Airline Ryanair makes provision for Brexit
An unregulated Brexit would hit the economy and many other areas of life. Even Europe's largest budget airline Ryanair already makes provision: Spare parts from the English central warehouse will be distributed to other EU sites, said the head of the maintenance division Ryanair Engineering, Karsten Mühlenfeld, the German Press Agency. The introduction and replacement of spare parts could be made more difficult with a No Deal - for example, through customs restrictions.
Mühlenfeld emphasized: "We are worried that it will take longer to get the spare parts from the central warehouse in Stansted to the airport, where we need them at short notice." According to Mühlenfeld, parts of the Irish airline have been relocated to other locations in the EU since the beginning of the year. Smaller camps are also available in Germany, for example in Berlin-Schönefeld and Frankfurt am Main. Ryanair is not the first group to fear consequences for the complex processes in aviation with Brexit. The aviation and defense company Airbus threatened with the closure of factories.