BRUSSELS: Britain has become more likely in the recent days to crash out of the European Union without a divorce agreement, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Tuesday.
“Over the last days a no-deal scenario has become more likely, but we can still hope to avoid it,” Barnier said, adding the EU was ready to accept Britain staying the EU’s customs union or a relationship akin to the one the EU has with Norway.
Speaking at an event in Brussels after the British parliament rejected any alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May’s divorce deal, Barnier said Britain now had three choices before the April 12 leaving date.
He said Britain could still accept the already-negotiated deal, leave without an agreement, or ask for a long extension to Brexit, which would entail organizing European Parliament elections in Britain in May.
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No-deal Brexit more likely by the day: EU’s Barnier
No-deal Brexit more likely by the day: EU’s Barnier
- ‘Over the last days a no-deal scenario has become more likely, but we can still hope to avoid it’
- Britain could still accept the already-negotiated deal, leave without an agreement, or ask for a long extension to Brexit
US federal prosecutors open inquiry into US Fed chair Powell, NYT reports
The US attorney’s office in the District of Columbia has opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell over the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters and whether Powell lied to Congress about the scope of the project, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
The inquiry, which includes an analysis of Powell’s public statements and an examination of spending records, was approved in November by Attorney Jeanine Pirro, the NYT reported citing officials briefed on the situation.
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