EU leaders Presidents of European bodies say there will be no renegotiations and Britain must act on vote to avoid prolonging uncertainty EU referendum outcome live
The EUs top leaders have said they expect the UK to act on its momentous vote to leave the union as soon as possible, however painful that process may be and that there will be no renegotiation.
EU leaders
The presidents of the European council, commission and parliament Donald Tusk, Jean-Claude Juncker and Martin Schulz respectively and Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands which holds the EUs rotating presidency, said any delay to Britains exit would unnecessarily prolong uncertainty.
After emergency talks in Brussels, the four said they regretted, but respected Britains decision.
This is an unprecedented situation, but we are united in our response, they said in a joint statement.
While the UK the first sovereign country to vote to leave would remain a member until exit negotiations were concluded, they said, Europe expected it to give effect to this decision … as soon as possible by triggering article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, which is effectively Britains formal letter of resignation.
The special settlement negotiated by David Cameron earlier this year was void and could not be renegotiated, they said.
In Berlin, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, expressed great regret at Britains decision, but said the EU should not draw quick and simple conclusions that might create new and deeper divisions. The unions foundation was the idea of peace, she said.
EU leaders Speaking in Paris, the French president, Franois Hollande, said he profoundly regrets the Brexit vote but that the EU now had to make changes. In a brief televised statement, Hollande said the vote would put Europe to the test: To move forward, Europe cannot act as before.
Schulz said he would speak to Merkel about how to avoid a chain reaction of other EU states following Britain.
The chain reaction being celebrated everywhere now by Eurosceptics wont happen, he said, adding that the EU was the worlds biggest single market and Britain has just cut its ties with that market. Thatll have consequences, and I dont believe other countries will be encouraged to follow that dangerous path.
EU leaders Manfred Weber, the chairman of the European Peoples party group of centre-right parties in the European parliament, stressed that Britain had crossed a line and there was no going back.
The vote causes major damage to both sides, Weber said. Exit negotiations should be concluded within two years at max. There cannot be any special treatment. Leave means leave.
Tusk said earlier that the EUs 27 remaining members would meet next week to assess their future without Britain, warning that there was no way of predicting all the political consequences of this event especially for the UK. It is a historic moment, but not a moment for hysterical reactions.
The Polish foreign minister, Witold Waszczykowski, said in a statement the result showed disillusionment with European integration, and declining trust in the EU. He sought to reassure at least 850,000 Poles living in Britain that during talks (…) we will aim to guarantee the rights citizens have acquired.
Italys prime minister, Matteo Renzi, tweeted: We must change it to make it more human and more just. But Europe is our home, its our future. Lars Loekke Rasmussen, the Danish prime minister, said Denmark belongs in Europe but said mounting Euroscepticism must be taken seriously.
In Greece, there was concern that the referendum result would intensify anti-European sentiment. In the short term, Brexit may help Greece, because our allies will want to solidify and show solidarity, a senior minister told the Guardian. But in the long term, it will not. The prospect of Grexit will increase.
Turkey, whose future membership of the EU played a key role in the UK referendum campaign, cast doubt on the likelihood of it joining in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. The European Unions disintegration has started, deputy prime minister Nurettin Canikli tweeted. Britain was the first to jump ship.
The UK was the EUs second-largest economy and largest military power. It will embark on the process of leaving as the union grapples with multiple crises: huge numbers of migrants, economic weakness and a nationalist Russia seeking to overturn the post-cold war order.
Brussels will look to Germany and France to show the world that Europe is still in business. Italy is likely to also play a role in crisis talks, although Spanish elections on Sunday rule out much input from Madrid.
Cameron said in his resignation speech on Friday morning that it would be up to his successor, likely to be appointed within the next three months, to trigger article 50. Once that is done, the clock starts running on two years of negotiations.
The UK has to negotiate two agreements: a divorce treaty to wind down British contributions to the EU budget and settle the status of the 1.2 million Britons living in the EU and 3 million EU citizens in the UK; and an agreement to govern future trade and other ties with its European neighbours.
Tusk has estimated that both agreements could take seven years to settle without any guarantee of success. Most Brussels insiders think this sounds optimistic.
There were early warnings of difficulties ahead. The German MEP Elmar Brok, who chairs the European parliaments committee on foreign affairs, told the Guardian the parliament would call on Juncker to strip the British commissioner, Jonathan Hill, of the financial services brief with immediate effect and turn him into a commissioner without portfolio.
He said: They will have to negotiate from the position of a third country, not as a member state. If Britain wants to have a similar status to Switzerland and Norway, then it will also have to pay into EU structural funds like those countries do. The British public will find out what that means.
Jean-Claude Piris, a former head of the EU council legal service, said claims that Britain would get unfettered access to the single market, without free movement of people, were the equivalent of believing in Father Christmas. He said the British cannot get as good a deal as they have now, it is impossible.
Some Brussels insiders fear France and Germany may soften their approach after the vote. Others think countries, especially France, will push for a harsh settlement to hammer home the price of leaving.
One likely outcome of negotiations is that banks and financial firms in the City of London will be stripped of their lucrative EU passports that allow them to sell services to the rest of the EU.
However, on paper, nothing changes immediately. The UK remains an EU member until it has finalised the terms of its divorce and is obliged to follow all EU rules.
In theory, the UK retains the decision-making privileges of membership; in reality, power will rapidly drain away and British diplomats can expect to be marginalised in the councils of Brussels.
The UK will keep its veto in some areas, such as tax and foreign policy, but diplomats say Britains voice on other EU decisions, for example economy and business, will count for little.
