Thread by @JenniferMerode

Sabine Weyand told EU ambassadors that decision to vote on Malthouse compromise - already rejected by Brussels umpteen times - showed that parliament was “divorced from reality”.

EU officials also seem astonished and disheartened that May has allowed a free vote on no-deal - negotiated so painfully with the EU. "Incredible" was the verdict of one source.

EU officials have now given up on short "technical" extension, although member states reserve right to be flexible. Germany especially does not want to close doors.

But don't underestimate how fed up many people are (fed up being the polite expression).

“There was a feeling [in amb meeting] ‘wouldn't it be better to have a dose of no deal to bring some sanity to the debate.”

But EU has no fixed position on how long Brexit extension should be for.
EU leaders will decide next Thursday at summit and insiders expect it will be decided on the day, not pre-cooked in advance.

Big political high-wire decision.

European commission has expressed views - currently favours one-off, never-again extension - but member state ambassadors didn't want to be boxed in on such a big question.

Those extension conditions - unsurprisingly - will be the rights and obligations of EU membership. So if long extension:
* EP elections
*Paying budget contributions - no more, no less.
This is the view of council lawyers.

And (finally) NO ONE KNOWS how this ends.

But EU certain there are no easy fixes.
When MPs rejected Brexit deal, it revealed a profound split over Brexit, that cannot be resolved by three lines of text on the backstop.

Brexit quote of the day to Mark Rutte.

'Voting for no-deal is like the Titanic voting for the iceberg.'

Sabine Weyand quoted him this morning (after Rutte made the remark in a recent phone call to Jean-Claude Juncker).