Macron convinced EU to hold summits without UK

The EU27 will be free to hold official Council meetings and make decisions without the UK despite the country still being a member of the Union, in a move seen as a success for France’s President Macron, who led calls for the restrictions.

The first of such meetings will be the “Future of Europe” summit in Sibiu on 9 May. It had been planned to take place after Brexit, with the presumption that the UK would have left on 29 March.

“The decision of holding summits without the UK was secured as a result of French demands. It is symbolic, as it conveys the message that in the divorce process, the point of no return has been reached, and that Britain is not exactly at the same level as other EU members”, EurActive writes.

Juncker said he was happy with the final date of 31 October, because his term ends on 1 November.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said humorously that in the case that an EU summit is held on 31 October, he hoped there would be no late night session, because he would have to leave to at midnight.

Earlier, EU and UK agreed to transfer Brexit to October 31.