EU sets seal to Brexit deal, defends May

Leaders of the 27-state EU cleared the 600-pade document setting terms for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union on 29 March 2019 in half an hour during a Sunday meeting and claimed it was the best deal that could be worked out under present conditions.

The European Commission also approved a 26-page declaration outlining a future free trading relationship between Britain and the EU.

European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said he believed Prime Minister May would get it through parliament, but ruled out big new concessions.

“This is the deal,” Junker told reporters on his way to the meeting, “Now it is time for everybody to take responsibility — everybody,” said Michel Barnier, the Frenchman who has ground out the withdrawal treaty over the past 18 months.

Juncker called it “a sad day”, saying Brexit was a “tragedy” and tough on both sides.

“I believe that the British government will succeed in securing the backing of the British parliament,” Juncker said, declining to comment on what might happen if May fails.

“I would vote in favour of this deal because this is the best deal possible for Britain,” he added.

“I believe that the British government will succeed in securing the backing of the British parliament,” Juncker said, declining to comment on what might happen if May fails.

“I would vote in favour of this deal because this is the best deal possible for Britain,” he added.

The Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party propping up British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government on Saturday said it would vote against her Brexit withdrawal agreement, which its deputy leader said would leave Britain in a “pitiful and pathetic place”.

DUP said it would review its parliamentary pact with the Conservatives if the deal is approved by MPs.

Prime Minister Theresa May rejected arguments against the deal and said should tell MPs who oppose her plan to either back the plan of face "division and uncertainty."

Speaking in the Commons after the 27 EU leaders approved the terms of the UK's exit at a summit on Sunday, May now has to persuade politicians in the UK Parliament to back the deal.

But cabinet ministers admit she faces an uphill struggle, with Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, the DUP and many Tory MPs set to vote against it.

While the 27 leaders voted unanimously for the Brexit deal, there were also signs of worries within the EU. After the deal was endorsed in the summit chamber, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite tweeted that the exit process was “far from over.”

Barnier called the package a basis for close future ties, insisting: “We will remain allies, partners and friends.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said the exit of one nation from the union showed EU needed reform. He, however, stressed that Paris would hold Britain to tight EU regulations, notably on the environment, in return for giving it easy trade access.

He said the exit of Britain, which was always sceptical of one Europe, is on its own choice and neither a moment for celebration nor mourning.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte praised May’s handling of the difficult negotiations and said he was confident that she could see the deal through parliament. But he also warned those in May’s Conservative party as well as the Labour opposition who look for a better deal by denying minority government support on Brexit.

“This is the maximum we can all do,” Rutte said, shaking his head when asked if the EU might make more concessions.

Saying the EU “hates” Brexit, Rutte said: “Nobody’s winning — we are all losing.” But, he said, the deal was an acceptable compromise for all that gave May a chance to clinch a solution.

The question now is whether May’s divided minority government can make it in parliament. If the deal fails, Britons would either hold a second referendum, hold a new election to replace May or return to Brussels to try and renegotiate the package. 

In the worst scenario, Britain will simply crash out of the bloc on without a deal.