British lawmakers could be given a vote on a revised Brexit deal as soon as next week as negotiators in Brussels scramble to clinch last-minute changes to a divorce accord that would avoid a potentially disorderly exit from the European Union.
Diplomats in Brussels said the EU and Britain were moving towards a separate legal statement in which the bloc would again stress the temporary nature of the insurance policy for the Irish border, which has been a sticking point in the talks.
But both sides played down the possibility of achieving the changes in time for a vote by British lawmakers next week.
Unless Prime Minister Theresa May can get a Brexit deal approved by the British parliament, then she will have to decide whether to delay Brexit or thrust the world’s fifth largest economy into chaos by leaving without a deal on March 29.
When asked what would happen next week, finance minister Philip Hammond said: “There may be an opportunity to bring a vote back to the House of Commons – there may be an opportunity, but that will depend on the progress that is made in the next few days.”
EU diplomats later said the two sides were working on a “parallel declaration” or “interpretative instrument” for the border backstop.
The backstop is an insurance policy designed to avoid border controls between EU member Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland after Brexit. Some UK lawmakers fear the backstop could trap the country in a permanent customs union with the EU.
“We are also looking at updating the declaration on future EU-UK ties after Brexit to give more prominence to the ‘alternative arrangements’ sought by Britain,” said one EU diplomat who deals with Brexit.
“But May won’t get any firm wording before Feb. 28.”
A British government official also played down the likelihood of a vote on the deal next week, saying it does not feel like Britain will have secured the changes it needs by then.
May, once a reluctant supporter of EU membership who won the top job in the political chaos following the 2016 referendum, has promised to give lawmakers a chance to decide what to do about Brexit on Feb. 27 unless she can bring back a deal.
She pressed for “legally binding changes” at talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in on Wednesday. May wants to prevent the “backstop” policy on the Irish border tying Britain indefinitely to EU rules.
She could have a further chance to lobby EU leaders at the weekend in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh during an EU-Arab League summit focused on migration, trade and security.