European Union leaders have said the Brexit withdrawal agreement is “not open for renegotiation”, despite appeals from Theresa May.
She wanted legal assurances on the Irish backstop to help her deal get through Parliament, after she delayed a Commons vote in anticipation of defeat.
The PM said the deal was “at risk” if MPs’ concerns could not be addressed.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said there could be clarifications but no renegotiation.
He urged the UK to set out more clearly what it wants, adding that the commission will publish information on 19 December on its preparations for a no-deal Brexit.
Mrs May returned to Brussels for a summit with EU leaders on Thursday, at the end of a week that has seen her first delay the vote on the withdrawal agreement in Parliament, then win a vote of confidence brought by MPs unhappy with it.
She vowed to listen to the concerns of the 37% of Tory MPs who voted against her and was hoping to “assuage” their concerns about the controversial “backstop” plan in the agreement.
Critics say the backstop – aimed at preventing a hard border in Northern Ireland – would keep the UK tied to EU rules indefinitely and curb its ability to strike trade deals.
Conservative MPs demanded changes to the backstop to make it clear that it could not last forever, and the UK could terminate the arrangement on its own.
The European Council’s conclusions on Brexit – published on Thursday evening – say the EU would use its “best endeavours to negotiate and conclude expeditiously a subsequent agreement that would replace the backstop, and would expect the same of the United Kingdom, so that the backstop would only be in place for as long as strictly necessary.”
In other words, the EU would continue trying to negotiate a trade deal with the UK even if the Irish backstop had been triggered at the end of the transition period.
The Brexit withdrawal agreement only talks about “best endeavours” being used to reach an agreement during the transition period.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who holds the rotating EU presidency, suggested there could be a special Brexit summit in January to agree “additional assurances”.
But Irish premier Leo Varadkar said that while EU was keen to be “helpful”, some of the suggestions she had put forward were “difficult” and warned there could be no “unilateral exit clause” on the backstop.
Downing Street has confirmed that MPs will not now vote on Mrs May’s deal before Christmas and said the vote would happen “as soon as possible in January”.
