On a day they hoped would never come, European Union (EU) leaders reminded departing Britain it has to play by the rules until its exit from the bloc is final.
The Brexit process is expected to be an acrimonious 24 months.
Brussels is taking the divorce hard and wants to make sure Britain does not have it easy either.
French president Francois Hollande, said Brexit “will be painful for the British” and will “force Europe to go forward, undoubtedly with different speeds”.
German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, rejected one of Theresa May’s key Brexit demands, insisting negotiations on Britain’s exit from the European Union cannot run in parallel with talks on the future UK-EU relationship.
“The negotiations must first clarify how we will disentangle our interlinked relationship,” the German chancellor said in Berlin. “Only when this question is dealt with can we – hopefully soon after – begin talking about our future relationship.”
Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European commission, said the UK’s decision to quit the bloc was a “choice they will regret one day”.
Holding the official letter from British Prime Minister Theresa May aloft on Wednesday, European Council President, Donald Tusk, was emotional.
“There is no reason to pretend that this is a happy day, neither in Brussels, nor in London,” Tusk told a briefing of reporters shortly after the document was delivered by British Ambassador Sir Tim Farrow.
“After all, most Europeans – including almost half of British voters- wish that we would stay together, not drift apart. As for me I will not pretend that I am happy today.”
“It’s the first time that a member state has decided to leave us,” lamented European Parliament President Antonio Tajani.
“Although we fully respect the democratic will of the majority of the British people, today is not a good day for Europe.”
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel was among the European leaders who weighed in, saying he accepts there may be hard feelings on both sides in the near term. “For many, it may still be hard today to understand how anyone could believe themselves better off standing alone in these uncertain global times,” Gabriel said in a statement heavy with political undertones.
“However, all this must not be what our future relations will be built on. Although it may sound like a hollow phrase, particularly when two individuals separate, ‘Let’s still be friends’ is the right thing to say in this situation.”
The European Parliament’s Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt made little effort to sound friendly with the British government, calling the break an “unprecedented and regrettable” event. It’s the citizens of the other 27 member states he’s worried about, Verhofstadt says.
He and European Parliament President Tajani presented a resolution outlining their expectations for the two-year negotiation period produced by presidents of the EP’s four major political groups and the Constitutional Affairs Committee.
Verhofstadt calls it “citizens first,” underscoring the need for “reciprocity and non-discrimination” between people, regardless of whether they live in the UK or the EU. “For us, it is an absolute priority to settle citizens’ rights as soon as possible,” he insisted. “It needs to be the first issue to be tackled in the negotiations.”
While the resolution, which will be debated and voted on next Wednesday, is non-binding, EP leaders remind London their approval is needed before the UK’s eventual exit deal is final. Until then, Tajani and Verhofstadt stressed, Britain must continue to behave as an EU member and not seek to set up its new arrangements – trade agreements in particular – outside the bloc. Verhofstadt stressed the need for the remaining 27 members to stay united.
President Tusk might first need to snap out of his mourning period. While declaring that Brexit has made the bloc-minus-Britain “more determined and more united than before,” he also ended his press conference wistfully, longing for London’s lost love: “What can I add to this? We already miss you.” -Additional report from DW.
