‘Many questions’ to clarify over UK’s Brexit extension request: Germany

The British government still has many questions that it needs to resolve over Brexit, Germany’s top diplomat said Friday, after Prime Minister Theresa May asked the EU to delay Britain’s exit to June 30.

“It is a difficult situation. There are I think many questions still to clarify in London,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters ahead of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in the northern French resort of Dinard, set to be overshadowed by the Brexit crisis.

Maas’s comments came after France said that it was premature to consider a further Brexit delay while Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the request did not answer key concerns.

Maas said an emergency summit meeting of EU leaders called for April 10 over Brexit would discuss how to respond to the request from London.

“We will come together with our European colleagues at the next council meeting and come to an opinion over the question of an extension and how long such an extension should be,” he said.

Maas emphasised that the legitimacy of the EU parliament elections, scheduled for May 23-26, should not in any way be called into question by doubts over Britain’s participation.

“The European elections are an important point in time and it is very important that they proceed in an orderly fashion. Therefore, we need great legal security and we should not endanger the legitimacy of the EU elections,” he said.