EU warns no better deal on offer if May is defeated in Commons vote
All 27 states back Brexit agreement – after just 40 minutes
EUROPEAN COMMISSION president Jean-Claude Juncker led warnings Britain cannot expect to get a better Brexit deal if Parliament rejects the agreement hammered out by Theresa May.
His warning came as EU leaders gathered in Brussels endorsed the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration finally agreed with the commission last week.
He stressed that there could be no return to the negotiating table if the deal – comprising the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration of future EU-UK relations – was rejected.
Mr Juncker told reporters: “This is the deal. It’s the best deal possible and the EU will not change its fundamental position when it comes to these issues,” he said.
“Those who think by rejecting the deal that they would have a better deal will be disappointed in the first seconds after the rejection of this deal.”
The announcement that the remaining 27 EU leaders had backed the plan came in a tweet from European Council president Donald Tusk barely 40 minutes after the meeting started.
Shortly after the news broke, Mrs May arrived at the council building in the Belgian capital to join the other leaders.
Mr Juncker’s comments were echoed by Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte who urged MPs to give their approval in next month’s expected “meaningful vote” in the House of Commons.
“This is the deal on the table. I don’t think there is anything more now. I don’t want to contemplate a no vote. I think there will be a yes vote,” he said.
“I think this is the best we can all do – both Theresa May and her Government as well as the European Union.
“I do think she has everything now to argue for a yes vote in the British Parliament.”
The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said the deal was a “necessary step” to prepare for the next phase of negotiations which the Government hopes will result in a wide-ranging free trade agreement.
“Now it is time for everybody to take their responsibility. This deal is a necessary step to build the trust between the UK and the EU we need to build,” Mr Barnier said.
“The next phase is an unprecedented and ambitious partnership. We will remain allies, partners and friends.”
Ahead of the meeting Mrs May issued a direct plea to the public to support plan.
In a “letter to the nation”, she said leaving the EU on March 29 2019 would mark “a new chapter in our national life” and there would be a moment of “renewal and reconciliation” after the bitter battles over Europe.
The almost 800-word message is an attempt to speak directly to the public to build support for her deal, which faces widespread opposition at Westminster including from both wings of her Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party which props up her administration.
She said the deal “will honour the result of the referendum” by allowing the UK to “take back control” of its money, laws and borders.
“It is a deal for a brighter future, which enables us to seize the opportunities that lie ahead,” she said.
She promised she would be “campaigning with my heart and soul” to win the vote in the Commons.
And “with Brexit settled” the UK will be able to focus on the economy, NHS, building homes and tackling the “burning injustices” in society, the Prime Minister added.
This is the deal on the table. I don’t think there is anything more now. Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte urges MPs to back the Commons vote on the deal.