Top MEP Weber urges UK lawmakers to okay Brexit deal

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - The leader of the European Parliament’s Christian Democrats on Monday called on British lawmakers to approve the Brexit deal.

Speaking to reporters following a party meeting in Potsdam, Germany, Manfred Weber stressed that it took two years for the EU member states and institutions to successfully conclude the negotiations on the U.K.’s exit from the EU.

“We urge our British colleagues to act in a responsible manner and approve this agreement,” he said, ahead of Tuesday’s key vote at the House of Commons.

Weber warned that a no-deal Brexit would lead to difficult developments after March 29, the U.K.’s official deadline for exiting the EU.

The German politician, 47, who heads the European People’s Party (EPP), the umbrella group of Christian Democrats and center-right parties, stressed that the European Parliament is ready to approve the Brexit agreement.

Weber is the lead EPP candidate for this year’s European Parliament elections in May and is widely expected to succeed European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, whose term will end in October.