Reflecting on Brexit over the last year, the EU Commission President said it had been a “diffcult process”, adding: “I am still sad our British friends are leaving the European Union”.
The EU boss also confirmed EU colleagues had given Theresa May a spontaneous round of applause last night.
He told Sky News: “Yes, because some of us thought, including me, that she did make big efforts and this has to be recognised.”
When asked if Britain wil ever leave the bloc after Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern suggested Brexit could be reversed, Mr Juncker appeared to hesitate.
He told cameras on the second day of the EU summit in Brussels: “That depends on the British Parliament and the British people – it’s not for us to decide what the British have to do.”
Theresa May has now flown back to London after last night’s talks, leaving the EU27 leaders to vote on whether or not to allow Brexit talks to move onto the next stage.
After an embarrassing defeat at home, Mrs May and her Downing Street aides were surprised to find solace in none other than Brussels.
The likes of EU President Jean-Claude Juncker, Donald Tusk , Germany’s Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron were among those who stood to applaud Mrs May after she made a brief statement on Brexit at the summit dinner with the 27 EU leaders.
Last week, the European Commission agreed that “sufficient progress” had been made on divorce issues to move Brexit negotiations on to the second phase after overnight talks by Mrs May and Mr Juncker.
But Mrs May suffered a setback on Wednesday night when the Government was defeated in a Commons vote over the Brexit bill.
The prime minister confessed to feeling “disappointed” that a mutiny by 11 Tory MPs had resulted in a Commons defeat for the Government on an amendment to her flagship EU Withdrawal Bill at Westminster on Wednesday night.
But she insisted her Brexit plans would not be blown off course by the setback.