UK Brexit negotiator Davis's comments "unacceptable," Verhofstadt says

The UK's chief negotiator in the talks about the country's withdrawal from the European Union, David Davis, made comments that are a "risk to undermine the good faith that has been built during the negotiations," according to a legislative amendment in the European Parliament.

It singles out Davis's comments that an agreement between the UK and the EU marking the point of 'sufficient progress' in the first phase of the negotiations and opening up the way to discuss trade and the future relationship is a mere "statement of intent."

"After @DavidDavisMP’s unacceptable remarks, it's time the UK government restores trust," The European Parliament's Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt wrote on Twitter, where he posted the amendment. This "will further toughen our resolution."

The European Parliament "text will now reflect this & insist agreement translated into legal text ASAP," he said in a separate Twitter statement.

The agreement, announced on December 8, covered the areas of citizens' rights, the financial settlement covering what the UK will have to pay to meet its obligations when it was an EU member state and the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The three issues were key to the EU moving talks forward.

The UK will leave the EU in March 2019.