The European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution on Tuesday demanding that London activate the EU treaty’s voluntary exit clause as fast as possible.
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The club doesn’t look likely to expand anytime soon – even though all the many eastern European countries that joined the EU starting in 2004 are on paper committed to joining the euro.
The president said he had spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and that her interest was making sure Britain’s exit worked, not retribution.
Cameron said he explained the situation in Britain to leaders from 27 European countries at the summit.
“I didn’t want to be in this position”, Cameron told European Union leaders late Tuesday.
Mr Cameron added: “I think we need to think about that, Europe need to think about that and I think that is going to be one of the major tests for the next prime minister”.
He set a clear timetable for triggering Article 50, the European Union treaty clause that begins the two-year withdrawal process, after Cameron’s successor takes office in early September.
“If we do see economic difficulties, one of the ways we have to react to that is to make sure that our public finances and economy remain strong so I don’t think it would be right to suspend the fiscal rules”, he said, rejecting a call from opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn for more investment.
Angela Merkel (r) and David Cameron in Brussels.
But European powers are loath to give Britain an easy ride as it leaves the EU, partly because they do not want to send a signal to other countries that may eventually head in the same direction.
Realizing the threat of a rift further tearing at European unity, Tusk said he was planning a special meeting of the EU leaders in Slovakia in September to chart a way ahead.
Merkel, Europe’s most powerful leader, said she would continue to regard the United Kingdom as “a friend and a partner” but stressed that there could be no formal or informal talks until Britain made the formal request to leave.
Last week’s vote unleashed financial and political turmoil not only in Britain but across the European Union, the world’s biggest economic power and home to half a billion people.
She told reporters in Brussels that “Britain knows what to do after what they did.
Leaders are absolutely determined to remain united”, he added. Corbyn defiantly said he would not stand down and would contest a grassroots party leadership election if challenged.
He said there was “universal respect” for the UK’s decision to leave despite a “tone of sadness and regret”.
To allow the status quo to continue, French President Francois Hollande warned, would benefit populist forces that seek “the end of Europe”.
Sturgeon was expected to meet later Wednesday with the leader of the European Union executive, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
When Juncker mentioned the Brexit vote in a speech, Farage cheered, to which the EU Commission president joked, and quipped: “The British people voted in favour of the exit – why are you here?”
Juncker, a lightning rod for critics of the Brussels bureaucracy, rejected German media speculation that he was exhausted and unwell and considering resignation, saying he would stay on and fight till his last breath for Europe.
US Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile said yesterday that the “very complicated divorce” that is Brexit might never happen.
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“Why don’t we just be pragmatic, sensible, grown-up, reasonable … and cut a sensible tariff-free deal?” he asked.
