“Hard Brexit is increasingly possible because we don’t know what the alternative is,” Katainen said at news conference, adding that if there was no British backing for the withdrawal agreement then there would be few options left.

“You only know what Britain doesn’t want, but you don’t know what Britain wants and, taking into account the limited number of days we have available, it is logical to think we are rushing toward a hard Brexit. But hopefully I am wrong,” he continued.