The bloc's 27 remaining leaders agreed to a "flextension" until January 2020, Donald Tusk, president of the EU Council, tweeted on Monday.
It could also have ramifications for the Prime Minister's push to secure a Christmas general election, a request which will be voted on in Parliament later on Monday. Opposition parties had blocked Johnson's effort to force a poll while a no-deal break from the EU remained on the table.
French President Emmanuel Macron reprised the role of "bad cop" in the delay negotiations, suggesting last week he would be reluctant to grant another extension unless circumstances in Westminster changed significantly.
But a French diplomat told CNN on Monday that the movement towards an election satisfied that demand, after Johnson and Macron spoke by phone during the weekend.
The UK will now not leave the European Union on Thursday, despite repeated promises from Johnson that the process would not be delayed again.
The Prime Minister had said Brexit would take place on October 31, "no ifs, no buts," and proclaimed he would rather be "dead in a ditch" than delay Brexit. But Parliament forced him to request an extension if he was unable to pass his deal, which Johnson pulled from a vote after lawmakers rejected his three-day legislative timetable.
An EU official told CNN that the next step in the process is to receive the UK's official acceptance of the request. Tusk will then launch the formal written procedure to ratify the extension, with a deadline of 24 hours' time.
"We hope this to be concluded by Tuesday or Wednesday," the official said.
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