European Union leaders call for a quick divorce for Britain

Share

European Union leaders have lashed out at Britain's decision to leave the EU, calling for a quick divorce and signalling that it won't be painless.

"Married or divorced, but not something in between," Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said Tuesday as leaders from EU countries gathered for a summit in Brussels. "We are not on Facebook, with 'It's complicated' as a status."

Emotions boiled over during an emergency session of the European parliament on Tuesday, as members exchanged insults and interrupted speeches with catcalls.

"Why are you here?" European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker snapped at members of the U.K. Independence Party who hold seats in the parliament and peppered him with heckling.

There was political intrigue in London too, as Labour members of Parliament held a vote of no-confidence in Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn, passing it by a margin of 172 to 40. Mr. Corbyn refused to step down and dared the dissidents to call a leadership race, saying in a statement that he "was democratically elected leader of our party for a new kind of politics by 60 per cent of Labour members and supporters, and I will not betray them by resigning."

And while financial markets stabilized after consecutive trading days of losses totalling more than $3-trillion (U.S.) globally, many expect the economic fallout from last week's vote to continue. Since Friday, Britain has lost its triple-A credit rating, the country's currency has sunk to a 31-year low and business confidence has been shattered. Even England's vaunted soccer team was humiliated, losing 2-1 to tiny Iceland at the European championships on Monday.

"I think the football was the final nail in the coffin," said Craig Erlam a senior market analyst at currency traders OANDA. "All this happening at the same time, it's a bit of a storm for the U.K. at the moment and it's going to be really interesting to see how we weather it."

Businesses have been struggling to figure out the ramifications of Brexit as well and on Tuesday several Canadian business people with British operations gathered at the high commission in London to discuss the fate of the Canada-EU trade deal and assess the future of working in Britain.

Canadian High Commissioner Gordon Campbell said Canada should press ahead with the EU deal, which has been in the works for seven years, but acknowledged there were now challenges to it being ratified because of the referendum vote.

"I think the first challenge is just finding people's attention in lieu of the personal and political activities that are taking place," Mr. Campbell said after the meeting. "The world is not unfolding according to a thought-out blueprint."

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has announced his intention to step down, tried to assuage EU concerns when he arrived in Brussels for the leaders' summit on Tuesday. He told reporters that he hoped the outcome of Brexit "can be as constructive as possible because, of course, while we're leaving the European Union, we mustn't be turning our backs on Europe."

That got little traction with the other EU leaders. Many made it clear they won't conduct any negotiations other than on complete separation and they poured cold water on suggestions in Britain that the country could remain in the EU's single market without free movement of people.

"Whoever wants to leave this family cannot expect to shed all its responsibilities but keep the privileges," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"The EU can't afford being held hostage by the U.K. political crisis for months," said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.

As Mr. Cameron spoke, the Conservative Party announced that it will have his replacement in place by Sept. 9. That has shortened a leadership selection process that has already deeply divided the party into camps of those who supported Mr. Cameron and the Remain side in the referendum and those who backed Vote Leave, led largely by Tory MP Boris Johnson.

Mr. Johnson is the front-runner in the race and he signalled on Tuesday that he would not call an election if he won the leadership. He has also indicated that Britain is in no hurry to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which is the formal withdrawal mechanism and would begin negotiations on a new arrangement between the EU and Britain which would last at least two years. Experts believe Mr. Johnson will wait until later this year to start the process, but EU leaders want it to come sooner.

"The process for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union must start as soon as possible," French President François Hollande said in Brussels on Tuesday. "I can't imagine any British government would not respect the choice of its own people."