EU approves "best" agreement on Brexit and calls on British to support May

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders have warned Britain's parliament not to compromise Theresa May's agreement on Brexit, saying a package agreed with Prime Minister Sunday would be the best thing that Britain would get.

"Those who think that, by refusing the agreement, they would get a better deal, will be disappointed," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters after the 27 other leaders of the EU The EU officially approved the terms of the British withdrawal in March. the outlines of a future EU-UK trade pact.

When asked if there was a chance for Brussels to reopen the pact if an alliance of Brexit supporters and Brexit supporters voted in the House of Commons, Juncker simply pointed out that is the best deal possible "- although summit chairman Donald Tusk sounded more guarded, saying that he did not want to consider hypotheticals.

Ms. May used a press conference after the summit to present her project and told viewers at home that it was the "only possible deal". It allowed for the control of British borders and budgets while maintaining close cooperation with European regulations. business and security of the wider region.

"In any negotiation, you do not get everything you want. I think the British understand that, "said May, who arrived after the downline to express her hopes of maintaining close ties.

Parliament's vote could open the door to a "better future" or condemn the country to more divisions, she said. "I will defend with all my heart this agreement," she added, refusing to say whether she would resign if Parliament rejected him.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the senior leadership of the bloc, echoed this reluctance to speculate on what she called a "historic day" both "tragic and sad". However, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whose country chairs EU meetings until the end of the year, said that there could be no more negotiations.

"There is no plan B," said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. "If anyone in the UK thinks that by voting, nothing better would come out, so they are wrong."

NO CHAMPAGNE

In the midst of praise for Michel Barnier's team of negotiators for signing an agreement after 18 months of exhausting talks, Juncker said it was "not time to take champagne," one of major European powers out after his Brexit referendum of 2016. The more difficult work of establishing new relationships is yet to come, he added.

It took the twenty-seven leaders barely half an hour to end the 600-page withdrawal treaty, which was aimed at an orderly exit on March 29, followed by a two- to three-year transition period. The outline of a future business and security partnership was only 26 pages long. May's critics say that Britain is forced by European regulations to no longer have a voice.

Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said the Brexit agreement was a "breakthrough" for Britain to get everything it wanted after it left the EU. , but that the arithmetic to get the approval of the agreement seemed "difficult".

The President of the European Council, Tusk, said the bloc was determined to establish a partnership as close as possible to Britain, long skeptical about European integration: "We will remain friends until the end of the war. end of days, and one more day, he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the British Brexit vote showed that Europe needed reforms. He pointed out that Paris would impose on Britain strict regulation of the EU, in return for easier access to trade. He also foreshadowed difficult negotiations by demanding access to British fishing areas after Brexit.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite raised several scenarios if Parliament blocked the package: that the British would hold a second referendum; organize a new election to replace May or return to Brussels to try to renegotiate the package.

Britain could also just collapse on March 29th. Both parties are preparing for such a "do not agree" scenario. The pound sterling has strengthened since the conclusion of the deal over the past 10 days, but companies and investors remain nervous.

Irish question

The Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, which backs the minority government in May, said it would try to block the deal, which links London to many European rules and that the DUP fears that this weakens the province's ties with Britain – a result of efforts to avoid any risk of a "hard border" with Ireland, a member of the EU.

DUP leader Arlene Foster said on Sunday that she would "revise" the May Conservative government's support agreement if the Brexit divorce was approved by the British parliament.

A dispute over how to keep open the border between Northern Ireland's land border and the EU has prevented much of the Brexit talks.

The 300-year-old British naval base in Gibraltar, located on the southern coast of Spain, also threatened to derail his plans. But Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he was satisfied with the guarantees given Saturday on the future of Gibraltar, saying on Sunday that Spain wanted to claim its share of sovereignty over "The Rock".