A new Brexit deal announced on Thursday has been endorsed by the EU leaders, President of the European Council Donald Tusk said.
In a joint press conference in Brussels with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier, Tusk said the EU has endorsed the deal which looks like “very close to the final stretch”.
Tusk said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal avoids “chaos” between the EU and U.K., but admitted his “sadness” because of Brexit and expressed hope that the “U.K. will return one day”.
The announced deal represents a political victory for the United Kingdom’s prime minister, but doubts remain about whether he will be able to sell it to parliament.
For many in Johnson’s ruling Conservative Party, his plan leaves a bitter taste: breaking promises made to the small Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) whose support the Conservatives have relied upon to stay in power while potentially boosting their own party’s chances in a likely election.
Boris Johnson will attempt to persuade MPs to back his Brexit deal today ahead of what is expected to be a knife-edge vote in the Commons on Saturday.
Mr Johnson has insisted he is “very confidenr” MPs will back his deal.
But the DUP’s opposition to his plans means he faces a battle to get the agreement through Parliament.
Conservative Party chairman James Cleverly said conversations with the Democratic Unionist Party would also continue, despite their insistence they would oppose the deal.
If MPs reject his plans, legislation passed by MPs says he must ask the EU for an extension until 31 January 2020 – something he has repeatedly insisted he would not do.
Opposition parties also confirmed they would reject the deal and instruct their MPs to vote against it.
David Jeffery, a lecturer in British politics at the University of Liverpool, who has studied the Conservative Party, said that whatever the outcome, Johnson can make political capital out of the recent developments.
However, Boris Johnson said he could get the EU to reopen the withdrawal agreement, he could bring them back to the negotiating table and get something different, and he was mocked by critics and he has done it, so it’s a personal win.”
Johnson’s deal overcomes the main obstacle to Brexit in parliament that has edged the country towards a “no-deal” exit from the EU. Economists have warned a no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for Britain.
