Beleaguered U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May | Jack Taylor/Getty Images UK ‘disappointed’ at Capital of Culture snub PM Theresa May in ‘urgent discussions’ over the matter.

The U.K. government is having "urgent discussions" with Brussels after the European Commission said a British city could not be European Capital of Culture in 2023.

"We disagree with the decision and we are particularly disappointed that we've been informed of this after the cities submitted their bids," a spokesperson for Prime Minister Theresa May said. "As the prime minister said, we are leaving the EU; we are not leaving Europe."

The spokesperson would not confirm if May will raise the issue on Friday when she travels to Brussels for the Eastern Partnership Summit.

In a letter obtained by POLITICO, the Commission said the British application for a European Capital of Culture in 2023 should be “discontinued” because of the Brexit vote.

Three countries which are not in the EU have hosted the cultural event in the past — Turkey, Iceland and Norway.

But Martine Reicherts, director-general in the Commission’s education and culture department, who wrote the letter, said the U.K. is no longer eligible because the scheme is only open to EU countries, candidate countries and members of the EEA.

The decision for the U.K. to get a capital of culture was taken in 2014 and a call for submissions to be the host was published in December 2016, after the vote to leave the EU. In October, the Guardian reported that Dundee, Nottingham, Leeds, Milton Keynes and Belfast/Derry had expressed an interest in being the 2023 host.

Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour Party, said some cities have already spent "up to £500,000 on their bid submissions.”