Xavier Bettel said if the Brexit deal accepted by the British Government gets rejected by parliament, following Mrs May’s humiliating defeat last night, the Brussels club will refuse to renegotiate.
He said it would “not be good for the negotiations” as he spoke before the pre-EU summit meeting of the ALDE party.
Striking a dismissive tone, 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.”
This was echoed by Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaitė who replied “I don’t think so, we’re on the same track as it was agreed by both sides,” when she was asked if last night’s Commons vote changes anything.
Mr Bettel also spoke of the complications Mrs May now faces after she suffered a setback last night when the Government was defeated in a Commons vote over the Brexit bill.
The PM suffered a crushing defeat in the Commons after MPs voted in favour of amendment seven which means they will have to vote the final Brexit deal into effect.
He told reporters: “This makes it even shorter for May’s Govt to make proposals because if after it she has to get an agreement in London that doesn’t help a lot.
“It’s a UK decision, it’s decision and we have to respect that even if it’s not the best one.”
Mr Bettel called for the EU not to punish Britain over Brexit and for negotiations between the UK and the Brussels club to be “based on trust” after the EU Parliament rubber-stamped its approval on the first phase of the Brexit deal on Wednesday.
He added: “We should not punish the British citizens because they have decided to leave.
“But we should not punish the other countries too because one is leaving.”