European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said the Withdrawal Agreement on offer is the ‘best deal possible’ and the ‘only deal possible’, with ‘no room whatsoever for renegotiation’.
He said: ‘I will see Mrs May this evening and I have to say here in the Parliament, as I did say before in this Parliament, the deal we have achieved is the best deal possible – it is the only deal possible.’
MEPs applauded as he said: ‘There is no room whatsoever for renegotiation, but of course there is room if used intelligently, there is room enough to give further clarifications and further interpretations without opening the Withdrawal Agreement.
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‘This will not happen: everyone has to note that the Withdrawal Agreement will not be reopened.’
He said earlier that Brexit was a ‘surprise guest’ at the European Council, adding: ‘I’m surprised because we had reached an agreement on the 25th November together with the government of the United Kingdom.
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‘Notwithstanding that, it would appear that there are problems right at the end of the road.’
Commons leader Andrea Leadsom, however, insisted that Juncker was bluffing and would change his mind.
She said on LBC: ‘Of course we all know that’s not the case. This is a negotiation and there is always room for alternatives.’
She later told the BBC: ‘The EU is always in a position where it negotiates at the last possible moment.’
Andrea Leadsom recently told the media that she does not make predictions on Brexit.
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