Displaying items by tag: deadline

Theresa May will make an unscheduled return visit to Brussels for Brexit talks on 24 November, as the UK and EU strive to do a deal in time for the summit of European leaders the next day. After a two-hour meeting with EU officials on 21 November, the PM said progress was being made on the future shape of EU-UK relations. The EU is now in a race against time to complete the text of an accompanying declaration on its future relations with the UK, covering trade, security and other issues, amid concerns from several member states. Before her first trip to Brussels, Mrs May had come under fire from every imaginable Brexit faction in the House of Commons, but reiterated that her deal delivered on the promises of Brexit and ensured a continued close trading relationship with the EU.

Spain acted on 9 May to stop pro-independence politicians in Catalonia voting in ex-leader Carles Puigdemont, now in Germany, as their regional head, with an important deadline looming. The constitutional court accepted a government appeal against a new Catalan law that would allow Puigdemont to be elected at a distance while he waits for German courts to rule on a Spanish request to extradite him. This means the law will be blocked until the court makes a final decision, which could take months. Catalan lawmakers must pick a leader to form a government by 22 May, to avert more elections and plot a path out of a seven-month standoff which has given Spain, the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy, its worst dose of instability in decades.