European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker quipped that Theresa May had a 7am “sanction” imposed on her for agreeing a Brexit deal last Friday. 

Speaking at a European Council press conference in Brussels, he said: “7 o’clock in the morning, 6 o’clock in London.

“That was the sanction that I imposed to the British Prime Minister.”

The eurocrat went on to compliment Theresa May for her negotiating skills.

Mr Juncker said: “But she was a tough, smart, polite and friendly negotiator.

“We had had a meeting with the group of the European parliamentarians being involved in this and so we were able to conclude that sufficient progress has been made.”

Mr Juncker added that it was now time to draft an EU withdrawal treaty with “our British friends”.

He said: “Now it’s up to us to draft the withdrawal agreement together with our British friends.

“And I hope this withdrawal treaty will be approved by the European Parliament and by the House in London.”

The leaders of the remaining 27 European Union members have announced they are pleased that "sufficient progress" has been made in Brexit talks and we can now move on to the second phase.

Theresa May flew 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.

Donald Tusk, the European Council's president, confirmed the news on Friday lunchtime, congratulating the Prime Minister as he confirmed the EU leaders were happy with the progress made.

The EU still wants more detail from Britain about her vision for the end state of Brexit talks but trade talks now appear to be on the horizon.