Speaking the day after he dined with European leaders for a “last supper” in Brussels – and as those leaders met again Wednesday without him to discuss the post-Brexit future – Cameron had a clear message from EU heads: that access to the European single market will not be granted without some tradeoff regarding the free movement of people across borders.
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Some 48 percent of the French think it’s a “good thing” for the European Union that Britain chose to leave the bloc, while 52 percent said it was a “bad thing”, according to the Elabe poll for BFM TV.
Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb is the first official contender.
“The four freedoms. You can not have the freedom of capital movement, the freedom of goods, freedom of services and then say, ‘When it comes to people, stay put!’ Well no, it doesn’t work that way”, Hollande said.
In Cameron’s absence, the most palpable remaining link to Britain at the summit was the English language used.
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.
The leaders sought to dispel any notion that the referendum result will amount to their Waterloo.
“We must show that Europe brings a true added value that can be felt by our citizens”, said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as he headed into the morning meeting with other leaders.
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.
The initial EU founding nations in the west lean toward a tighter, closer union while newer nations in the east want to keep more control with national governments – notably of their borders.
French President Francois Hollande said Britain will have to meet strict conditions if it wants to continue to be part of the single market.
The president said he had spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and that her interest was making sure Britain’s exit worked, not retribution.
“And this morning it looks like they aren’t sitting at the table any more”, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said as he arrived Wednesday.
However, 67 percent of those polled said European Union leaders were not up to the task of dealing with the fallout from Brexit.
“The coming weeks will be decisive”, Hollande said.
That will be tough when it comes to immigration. Central European nations led by Hungary refuse to accept EU refugee quotas, and countries further north have all tightened border controls in response to the arrival of more than a million migrants previous year.
Cameron told his 27 counterparts over dinner on Tuesday that their refusal to give him a deal that reduced immigration to the United Kingdom had cost him the referendum and his job, according to a British government official.
The shock British vote has roiled markets and had impact on Europe and beyond, and overshadowed all the discussions Wednesday in Brussels, because it will rob the European Union of its richest financial market, biggest military power and a diplomatic giant.
It could also prompt an unraveling of the UK.
Parliamentary leaders were meeting separately, and European commissioners – the EU’s executive body – could hold separate talks later. Sturgeon has indicated there may be a new referendum on Scottish independence.
Meanwhile in Britain, the political shockwaves from the Brexit bombshell still reverberated, with opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn under intense pressure to follow Cameron and quit.
The race is expected to be a two-way contest between ex-London mayor and anti-EU campaigner Boris Johnson and interior minister Theresa May, who wanted to stay in the bloc.
Banks and the pound bore the brunt of the market turmoil unleashed by the U.K.’s June 23 vote to quit the European Union after more than four decades, an upset that triggered a political and economic quake that reverberated across Europe.
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“This is the world’s fifth-biggest economy and 15 to 17 percent of the European Union’s gross domestic product, and if this country leaves the internal market. then of course that will be a hard situation”, Merkel said. The company, which says a majority of its customers are in other European Union countries, 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.
