Shocked EU leaders have called for stability and solidarity – but also for change and reform – after the United Kingdom voted to leave the organisation.
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“We are bound together by history, geography and common interests and will develop our cooperation on this basis”.
It added that Britain remained bound by European Union law “until it is no longer a member”.
Meanwhile, political leaders in France, Sweden and the Netherlands have hinted they may call for referendums to also exit the EU.
Worried European leaders will hold a series of crisis talks in coming days, with Merkel saying she would host the leaders of France and Italy along with EU President Donald Tusk in Berlin on Monday to try to chart a reform plan.
“I am fully aware of how serious, or even dramatic, this moment is politically”, he said, adding the historic moment is not a moment for “hysterical reactions”.
The EU was the biggest single market in the world and “Great Britain has just cut its ties with that market”, Mr Schulz said.
The 27 EU leaders will hold an informal meeting on the sidelines of a summit next week where Tusk said he would “propose that we start a wider reflection on our Union”.
Tusk told reporters that Britain’s 27 partners were “determined to keep our unity”.
Under the treaty provision governing the departure of a member state from the EU, the departing state continues to take part in the work of the EU’s various bodies up to the date of its departure, but refrains from taking part in any discussions linked to negotiations as to its withdrawal or its future relationship with the union.
Some Britons have considered applying for Belgian passports as long-time residents or switching allegiance to the countries of their European spouses.
Hollande said the Brexit vote was a “grave test for Europe”, adding that the bloc “must show solidity and strength in its response to the economic and financial risks”. The British vote is considered a political quake that will shatter the stability of the continental unity forged after World War II.
Many European officials fear the United Kingdom vote will play into the hands of the far right and left and fuel calls for referendums in other countries.
“We want be in charge of our own country, our own money, our own borders, and our own immigration policy”, he said. The U.K.is the first major country to decide to leave the bloc, which evolved from the ashes of the war as the region’s leaders sought to build links and avert future hostility.
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“Historically morale is as low in Brussels as it has been for a long time, certainly since the mid-seventies”, said Chris Bickerton, a lecturer at Cambridge University and author of The European Union: A Citizen’s Guide.
