How can Article 50 be extended? Will the PM ask for Brexit to be delayed?
EU leaders signal a willingness to allow the UK to prolong its membership of the bloc if it wants to avoid a no-deal departure.
Thursday 28 February 2019 16:54, UK
A top EU official believes delaying Brexit is a "rational solution", while Theresa May has accepted that Article 50 may have to be extended. But how can it be done?
:: What has the prime minister said?
Mrs May told MPs on Tuesday that if they reject her deal again, they will then have a vote on whether they are willing to leave without a deal on 29 March.
A majority of MPs have already voted against such a scenario, although the vote was non-binding.
Assuming no-deal is rejected again, MPs will then be given the chance to vote on whether the government should seek an extension to Article 50.
:: Remind me again, what is Article 50?
Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Lisbon Treaty, is the legal mechanism by which a member state can quit the bloc.
It sets out that a departing member state will leave on the implementation of a withdrawal agreement, or two years after it has notified the EU of its intention to exit.
Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 by giving official notice of the UK's departure from the EU on 29 March 2017.
This means the UK is scheduled to formally leave the bloc on 29 March this year.
:: How can it be extended?
Article 50 explains that a departing member state's EU membership can be extended beyond the two years since its notification to leave, but only if there is unanimous agreement between all remaining member states and the quitting country.
This means if the UK wants to extend its membership beyond 29 March this year, it will have to be agreed by all of the other 27 EU countries.
:: Are EU leaders likely to accept a UK request?
European Council President Donald Tusk, who chairs meetings of EU heads of government, has described an extension to the Article 50 period as a "rational solution" following the overwhelming rejection of Mrs May's Brexit deal by the House of Commons.
He revealed he has discussed "the legal and procedural context of a potential extension" with the prime minister, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel also raised the issue during recent talks with Mrs May.
Both Germany and France, the EU's two most influential member states, have signalled a willingness to extend Article 50 and delay Brexit.
And Ireland's deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, has said Dublin would also likely agree.
:: How long could it be extended by?
It is not clear at this stage how long the delay to Brexit would be for, although the PM told the Commons she would want any extension to be "as short as possible".
Downing Street has not yet said whether the motion on extending Article 50 would suggest a date, which could be amended by MPs anyway.
It has been suggested the UK could either ask for a "technical extension" to Article 50 or a much longer extension to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
A technical extension would likely be requested if Mrs May manages to pass a Brexit deal in the House of Commons before 29 March, but is then left with a need for a few more weeks to legislate for a withdrawal agreement.
The EU would also be likely to need the extra time to ratify the UK's exit deal, which has to be signed off by the European Parliament.
A technical extension would most probably only last a matter of weeks, with the next European Parliament elections on 23 May seen as a limiting factor on any delay.
The prime minister would be loathe to hold elections for MEPs - or be forced to reappoint the UK's existing representatives in the European Parliament - and so would want to avoid the UK's EU membership being extended beyond this date.
The European Parliament's new term begins on 2 July, which makes it the likely latest possible date for a short-term extension.
A longer-term extension may be requested by the UK if the House of Commons continues to reject an EU withdrawal agreement.
Some MPs have already proposed extending Article 50 until the end of this year, while it has been reported the EU could even seek a delay to Brexit until 2021 in this scenario.
This would see the planned 21-month Brexit transition period replaced by a longer postponement to the UK's departure.
:: Can Article 50 be revoked completely?
Yes. The EU's top court has ruled the UK can revoke Article 50 and halt Brexit without the permission of other member states.
A judgement by the European Court of Justice gives the UK the right to unilaterally withdraw its notification to leave the EU.
However, this can only be done before the UK's scheduled departure date of 29 March.
If Article 50 is revoked before this date, the UK could remain in the EU under the current terms of its membership, judges ruled.