Jospeh Muscat said talks with the UK had been “pretty constructive” as he arrived in Brussels this morning for the second day of the EU summit .
But he stressed the need to “deliver” a Brexit deal “as soon as possible”.
He told reporters: “We all expressed our feeling that we were grateful to Prime Minister May for her commitment.
“Obviously we were concerned at some developments in London, but we are totally committed from our side to deliver as soon as possible.”
When quizzed over the round of applause recieved by Theresa May last night from EU leaders, he said: “I’m not here to give a blow-by-blow account but I think there was appreciation from everyone that we have moved forward.”
Speaking about moving on with trade in Brexit negotiations, he added: “The first real big step is for the UK to say what it wants – in clear terms. I think if this happens in the next few weeks we can start in earnest and by March we will have a very clear European position.”
Mrs May has 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.
The Prime Minister was applauded by her European counterparts at a Brussels dinner last night after German Chancellor Angela Merkel thanked her for her efforts in Brexit talks.