EU leaders call for swift ratification after Tory victory

Boris Johnson’s election triumph has been greeted with calls for swift ratification of the Brexit deal by EU leaders and a demand for clarity from Downing Street on the UK’s objectives in the negotiation on the future relationship.

“We expect as soon as possible a vote by the British parliament on the withdrawal agreement,” the European council president, Charles Michel, told reporters at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels. “It is important to have the clarity as soon as possible. We are ready. The EU will negotiate to ensure to have a close cooperation in the future with the UK.”

Michel, a former prime minister of Belgium, added that “the integrity of the single market is a very important issue for us”.

Earlier, the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, had said she would “immediately listen to the prime minister, the new prime minister, to be reassured what the pathway is”.

The size of Johnson’s majority is seen as a welcome development among the EU’s leaders, who believe it will give the newly elected prime minister free rein to decide his negotiating objectives and compromise in the talks where necessary.

Once the UK parliament has ratified the withdrawal agreement, the European parliament will give its consent in January before the UK’s departure at the end of the month.

EU leaders are waiting to see what incarnation of the prime minister will emerge now he is secure in Downing Street.

Johnson had initially approached the negotiations on the withdrawal agreement with bullish uncompromising talk, but swiftly broke his red lines to concede to a customs border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The 27 heads of state and government, meeting on the second day of a summit, are expected to issue a communique later on Friday saying that “the future relationship will have to be based on a balance of rights and obligations and ensure a level playing field”.

The EU wants the British government to sign up to Brussels’ environment, tax, work and social standards as it seeks “to establish as close as possible a future relationship with the UK”, according to a leaked draft of the document.

There is a debate among the EU27 and with the European commission on what might be possible to negotiate between 31 January, when the UK is now expected to leave, and the end of the transition period 11 months later.

Johnson has said he will not extend the transition period, as would be permissible under the terms of the withdrawal agreement, beyond the end of 2020.

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, who has been confirmed in his post, has said that as a result there is insufficient time to complete negotiations on a comprehensive deal and that trade will need to be prioritised, leaving other issues such as cooperation on services and transport for later.

The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, conceded at the summit that it would be “quite a challenge given the short time available” to find agreement even on trade by the end of next year.

“We have to discuss the precise approach to these negotiations,” he said.

Belgium’s prime minister, Sophie Wilmès, said: “We have to give a clear mandate to Michel Barnier to negotiate what our relationship will be.”

Satisfaction that there will now be clarity from the UK over the next steps is tempered by sadness over the country’s imminent departure.

The Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, said: “It is obviously a giant success for Boris Johnson. He is a charismatic leader. He won and now they will leave, unfortunately. That is bad news for Europe.”