Highlighting the seismic shock from last week’s referendum, one person who was in Brussels however was Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, “utterly determined” to see Scotland remain in the EU.
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On Tuesday, Prime Minister David Cameron held talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker hours ahead of an EU summit in Brussels where the outgoing British leader is expected to say that exit talks might not be launched before October. One contradiction inside Britain’s political establishment is that a majority of Parliament did not favor Brexit, leaving the leaders who must negotiate a divorce out of step with the majority of Britons who voted for the exit door in last Thursday’s referendum.
Former London mayor Boris Johnson, who led the Leave camp and is bookmakers’ favorite to succeed Cameron, has suggested Britain could have full market access, including for the vital financial sector, without having EU rules enforced by the European Court of Justice or paying as much as London does now into the EU budget.
European leaders have told Britain to act quickly to resolve the political and economic chaos unleashed by its vote to leave the European Union, a move the International Monetary Fund said could put pressure on global growth.
Amid rising fears the European Union could splinter apart after the British decision to leave, leaders of Europe’s 27 remaining nations met in Brussels amid divided visions for the continent’s future.
Thursday’s referendum backed a British exit – or Brexit – from the European Union, but the nature and timing of a prospective Article 50 declaration is still being hotly debated.
Some businesses are putting investments on hold and Fitch said “there is little doubt that the United Kingdom referendum vote in favor of leaving the European Union will take a significant toll on the economy”.
The company said in a statement Wednesday that European Union membership had been an important factor in its growth, and that free movement of people, goods and capital were integral to any pan-European business.
“Of course everyone wants to see a clear blueprint in terms of what Britain thinks is right for its future relationship with the European Union”.
A far-right party in Slovakia, People’s Party-Our Slovakia, also called for a referendum the day after the Brexit result was announced and far-right parties throughout the bloc, have been calling for the same.
It says there are concerns about what Britain’s future trading relationship with the European Union will be, what kind of regulations it will have and also whether the country faces an renewed push for independence by Scotland.
It could also prompt an unraveling of the United Kingdom.
Britain’s main opposition party Labour has also been thrown into turmoil by the vote, as lawmakers moved in its aftermath to oust left-wing leader Jeremy Corbyn in a slow-motion revolt.
“This process must begin as soon as possible so we don’t end up in an extended limbo period”, says German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The breakfast was the first pan-European gathering in decades at which Britain was not represented, a reminder of the momentous vote by British voters to sunder ties across the English Channel. “And I think it will be in many ways even more hard from outside, if you want full access to the single market, to secure change”.
“No notification, no negotiation”, he said to resounding applause. “We are married or divorced, but not something in between”, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said.
In London, nominations opened Wednesday to replace Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party, with Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb the first official contender.
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She was also scheduled to meet European parliament president, Martin Schulz, and Guy Verhofstadt, the former Belgian prime minister and leader of the Liberal group at the European parliament.
