"In this decision, the European Council, with the agreement of the UK, has made [it] clear that any reopening of the withdrawal agreement is excluded, so this is where we are now", Andreeva said.
The statement comes after the European Council decided on 29 October to postpone Brexit until 31 January due to the UK parliament's failure to ratify a recently renegotiated Brexit deal.
On 17 October, London and Brussels finally reached a new Brexit deal after protracted negotiations. The new Brexit draft has dropped the controversial Irish backstop to avoid a hard border in favour of giving the devolved parliament of Northern Ireland a say on any future arrangement concerning the territory.
The deal, however, was met with strong resistance in the parliament, prompting a decision to hold a snap general election on 12 December. The lack of the parliament’s approval prevented the country from leaving the bloc on 31 October, against the government’s wishes, and led to the EU granting an extension until 31 January.
