MPs warned EU will not renegotiate Brexit deal if Parliament rejects it
EU leaders have been reacting to the Prime Minister's defeat on Brexit legislation in the House of Commons.
Thursday 14 December 2017 20:35, UK
MPs have been warned Brussels will not re-negotiate a Brexit deal if Parliament rejects it, as EU leaders reacted to Theresa May's defeat on key legislation.
A group of Tory rebels forced an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill on Wednesday night, as they secured their demand for a "meaningful vote" on any Brexit deal.
But, despite MPs celebrating their victory over the Government, EU leaders gathering in Brussels warned the vote will complicate the Brexit process.
Luxembourg's president Xavier Bettel suggested the UK will not be able to return to Brussels asking for a different exit deal, if it is voted down by the House of Commons.
Speaking at a European Council summit on Thursday, he said: "I really believe that to think that Theresa May will negotiate something, we will negotiate something and then again Theresa May will go back to Westminster is not good for the position of the negotiations."
He added: "This is not good for Theresa May...as soon as she negotiates something she will have to go back to London to get approval from her Parliament and this is not making her life easier.
"This doesn't change anything on the agenda, it's just going to make it more complicated for the UK Government."
Meanwhile, Austrian chancellor Christian Kern expressed hope Britain's departure from the EU could yet be halted.
He said: "I hope that it can be reversed, because there will be a lot of big issues and challenges that are not easy to solve and a lot of tensions in the domestic area in Great Britain."
German MEP Hans-Olaf Henkel is also among those hoping to stop Brexit, having begun a campaign for the EU to offer the UK altered membership terms in an effort to keep Britain in the bloc.
He told Sky News: "For me it is very clear that the Brexit is a lose-lose situation for both Britain and the EU and, quite frankly, outside the UK, I have never met one single person who wants Britain to leave.
"So that's why we in Germany have started an initiative.
"We call it a 'new deal for Britain' and this initiative is aimed at Brussels, not at London.
"We want Brussels to offer Britain a new deal, more flexibility - especially in the area of immigration - so at the end Britain can say 'look, we got what we wanted, without all the tremendous disadvantages of Brexit'."
At the European Council summit, EU leaders are set to sanction the start of Brexit trade talks after the Prime Minister reached an agreement on key divorce issues last week.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned Mrs May now is the time for her to give greater detail on the future EU-UK relationship she hopes to secure.
He said: "I guess she's holding her cards close to her heart at the moment, which I understand, on the next phase.
"And this is probably a wise negotiating tactic, but of course having now, hopefully passed phase one, today and tomorrow, I think we need from her to understand how she sees this future relationship with the EU.
"It is now for the UK to make up its mind and then together, collectively to see where we can get to."
Chancellor Philip Hammond recently revealed Cabinet ministers have yet to decide what future EU relationship they will aim for in phase two Brexit talks, with the issue to be thrashed out at a crunch meeting in Downing Street next week.