STRASBOURG Filip Forsberg Predators Jersey , France, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Despite "sufficient progress", European Council President Donald Tusk told European lawmakers in Strasbourg on Tuesday that the most difficult part of the process was still to come.
"The hardest work is still ahead of us, and time is limited," Tusk said in his report to members of European Parliament (MEPs) on the outcomes of the December 2017 European Summit.
"We must maintain the unity of the EU27 in every scenario P.K Subban Predators Jersey , and personally I have no doubt that we will," he said.
"If the UK government sticks to its decision to leave, Brexit will become a reality -- with all its negative consequences -- in March next year. Unless there is a change of heart among our British friends," Tusk told lawmakers.
"What we need today is more clarity on the UK's vision," the European Council President said. "Once we have that Ryan Johansen Womens Jersey , the leaders will meet and decide on the way the EU sees its future relationship with the UK as a third country."
Tusk appeared to offer hope to anti-Brexit campaigners, concluding his remarks by referencing the ability for a democracy to change its mind. "We, here on the continent, haven't had a change of heart. Our hearts are still open to you," he said.
Tusk repeated his stance later with a tweet.
Also addressing MEPs in the same debate Pekka Rinne Womens Jersey , European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker echoed his European Council colleague, saying "Mr. Tusk said our door remains open, and I hope that will be heard clearly in London."
The discussion in Strasbourg, part of the European Parliament's January 2018 plenary session, came on the heels of a new round of Brexit negotiations launching on Monday evening.
European media have reported that leaked draft guidelines given to the EU's chief negotiator Filip Forsberg Womens Jersey , Michel Barnier, include tough new stances on European citizens' rights, and continued EU regulations during the called-for transition period after March 2019, when Britain would become a third country.
Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's representative on Brexit issues P.K Subban Womens Jersey , told MEPs on Tuesday morning that "We are coming to the most difficult part of this negotiation".
"We need rock solid guarantees" on citizens' rights, he said and later tweeted.