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E.U. Leaders Divided Over How to Respond to ‘Brexit’ Vote A Blunt Message After ‘Brexit’: Bolting Will Carry a Heavy Price
(about 2 hours later)
BRUSSELS — Deeply shaken by Britain’s vote to quit the European Union, the bloc’s leaders met on Tuesday to confront their most urgent conundrum: How to calm the crisis in the hope that it fades away, while making the British decision so painful that no other country follows. BRUSSELS — Shaken by Britain’s vote to quit the European Union, the bloc’s leaders met on Tuesday in Brussels and sent a blunt message to Britain and others tempted to follow its example: Bolting will carry a heavy price.
Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, attending what might be his last European Union summit meeting, told reporters after a day of talks that he regretted having lost the referendum on membership and would do everything in his power to “encourage a close relationship” with the bloc’s other members. While softening demands that Britain formally file for divorce swiftly following last Thursday’s shock referendum result, leaders of the European Union’s 27 other nations made it clear to Prime Minister David Cameron that his country would not enjoy the benefits of membership — like access to Europe’s single market — while sloughing off its burdens.
But if there was any hope that Britain might somehow undo its decision, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany sought to quash it. She told reporters that “I want to say very clearly tonight that I see no way to reverse this.” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, speaking at a late night news conference, took a hard position, saying that her country would defend its economic priorities and that Britain must use an agreed legal procedure to leave the European Union.
Ms. Merkel took a hard position toward Britain, saying that her country would defend its own economic priorities and explaining that Britain must use an agreed legal procedure to leave the European Union. “The discussion today reflected very clearly that everyone felt this was a sea-change, a watershed moment, a historic moment,” Mrs. Merkel said. The goal was to reshape the relationship with Britain “as a relationship of friendship,” she said, but “we will also be guided by our own interests.”
“The discussion today reflected very clearly that everyone felt this was a sea-change, a watershed moment, a historic moment,” the German leader said. The goal was to shape the new relationship with Britain “as a relationship of friendship,” but “we will also be guided by our own interests.” Referring to the terrorist attack on Tuesday at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, she said a world “characterized by turmoil and turbulences” was “not waiting for the European Union to make up its mind,” an apparent reference to uncertainty over its relations with Britain and the future direction of what began as a peace project after World War II and has since grown into the world’s biggest economic bloc.
The leaders of what, for the moment, is still a bloc of 28 countries all agree that the European Union needs an overhaul. The two-day summit meeting began the long and divisive effort to rebuild the cornerstone of Europe’s peace and relative prosperity for more than 60 years. Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands, historically one of Britain’s closest allies in pushing Europe to focus on strengthening market forces and protecting sovereign rights, said the economic and political mayhem caused by Britain’s vote to leave should deter others.
Europe’s leaders also face the immediate task of handling the tensions building over Britain’s desire to seek a divorce while stalling on a formal application. “To everybody thinking of leaving the single market, this is what happens,” he said.
They want the process to go as smoothly and as quickly as possible and to contain the economic damage, but not so painlessly for Britain as to encourage populist movements in other wavering nations to push for destabilizing referendums of their own. The turmoil has stirred hope in some quarters that Britain might, in the end, never take the next, formal step to leave the European Union. Ms. Merkel, however, dismissed this as “impossible.”
Ms. Merkel tried to thread that needle in a speech to the German Parliament before leaving for Brussels, warning that Britain would suffer as a result of its vote and could not expect to enjoy the privileges of membership, like access to Europe’s single market, while sloughing off its burdens. As to whether Britain could hold another referendum with a different outcome, she said that was highly unlikely. “As of tonight I do not see any possibility to reverse this decision,” she said.“It is not the hour for wishful thinking.”
“There must be and will be a noticeable difference between whether a country wants to be a member of the European Union family or not,” she said. Mr. Cameron, attending what will probably be his last European summit meeting in Brussels, also stressed that there was no turning back from last week’s vote in favor of Brexit, as Britain’s withdrawal from the union is known.
The shock vote last week in Britain has done more than embolden populist forces that denounce the European Union as a distant and meddling force that mainly serves elites. It has also resurfaced deep pools of bitterness and anger left by earlier crises, notably a grinding economic slowdown and an uncontrolled influx of migrants across Europe’s open borders. “I am sorry we lost the referendum but you have to accept the result of the British people, you have to accept the verdict,” he told reporters. “I’m a democrat.”
Instead of dealing with just the crisis of confidence set off by the vote for Brexit, as Britain’s exit from the European bloc is called, leaders are effectively confronting all the crises of recent years at one-time. Still unresolved are arguments over austerity, the German-led prescription for a financial crisis that began in Greece in 2008, and whether the European Union should be merely a free-trade zone or the locomotive of a more ambitious program of “ever closer union,” a cause enshrined in the 1957 Treaty of Rome. While calling for “the closest possible relationship” with Europe in the future, he acknowledged that “it is impossible to have all of the benefits of membership without some of the costs of membership.”
Mr. Cameron, who has said he will resign by October, has left the task of setting the terms of the departure settlement to his successor, who will be responsible for invoking an exit clause, Article 50, in a European treaty and starting negotiations with Brussels on disentangling a formal relationship that began in 1973.
France and other countries have complained that this would only create months of uncertainty and stoke unease for financial markets. But there seemed to be more sympathy on Tuesday for Britain’s hesitant pace. “If they need more time we have to wait. This is the only legal way we have,” Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, which represents European governments, told reporters.
Beyond dealing with the mechanics of Britain’s exit, however, Europe Union members face an even tougher challenge in trying to dampen rising populist sentiment elsewhere, while somehow rebuilding the cornerstone of Europe’s peace and relative prosperity for more than 60 years.
How to do this will be the focus of the second day of the summit meeting on Wednesday — from which Mr. Cameron is excluded.
The shock vote in Britain has done more than embolden populists who denounce the European Union as a distant and meddling force. It has resurfaced deep bitterness and anger left by earlier crises, notably a grinding economic slowdown and an uncontrolled influx of migrants across Europe’s open borders.
Instead of dealing with just the crisis of confidence set off by the vote for Brexit, leaders are effectively confronting all the crises of recent years at one time. Still unresolved are arguments over austerity, the German-led prescription for a financial crisis that began in Greece in 2008, and whether the European Union should be merely a free-trade zone or the locomotive of a more ambitious program of “ever closer union,” a cause enshrined in the 1957 Treaty of Rome.
Arriving for the summit meeting, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece — whose country voted in a referendum last year to reject a financial bailout offered by Brussels only to accept even harsher terms to avoid expulsion from Europe’s common currency — described the British referendum result as a “sad wake-up call” that should force the European Union to abandon policies of austerity and “endless negotiations behind closed doors.”Arriving for the summit meeting, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece — whose country voted in a referendum last year to reject a financial bailout offered by Brussels only to accept even harsher terms to avoid expulsion from Europe’s common currency — described the British referendum result as a “sad wake-up call” that should force the European Union to abandon policies of austerity and “endless negotiations behind closed doors.”
At the European Parliament on Tuesday, members of the assembly were united in calls for change but offered no common vision of how. “Europe needs change. But we want to improve it, not destroy it,” said Manfred Weber, a center-right ally of Ms. Merkel’s. The British vote, Mr. Weber said, “was a victory for the populists and Europe is now at a crossroads.” At the European Parliament early on Tuesday, a debate on Britain’s referendum result produced raucous scenes as Nigel Farage, a British member of the assembly and a driving force behind the Brexit campaign, traded insults and mockery with fellow legislators and the president of the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, Jean-Claude Juncker, who demanded to know: “Why are you here?”
Mindful that Europe’s identity crisis is unlikely to be settled anytime soon, the leaders of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia urged the European Union to “get back to basics” and focus on reinforcing freedoms and building a single market.Mindful that Europe’s identity crisis is unlikely to be settled anytime soon, the leaders of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia urged the European Union to “get back to basics” and focus on reinforcing freedoms and building a single market.
“Instead of endless theoretical debates on ‘more Europe’ or ‘less Europe’ we need to focus on ‘better Europe,’ the leaders of the four countries, all formerly communist, said in a statement.“Instead of endless theoretical debates on ‘more Europe’ or ‘less Europe’ we need to focus on ‘better Europe,’ the leaders of the four countries, all formerly communist, said in a statement.
What this “better Europe” — a popular slogan now used by politicians who agree on little else — would look like exactly is unclear. What is clear, however, is that skepticism over the purpose and merits of the European Union as it works now is on the rise across wide sections of the Continent. What this “better Europe” — a popular slogan now used by politicians who agree on little else — would look like exactly is unclear. What is clear, however, is that skepticism over the European Union as it works now is on the rise.
A spring survey by the Pew Research Center found that while support for the bloc remains strong in Poland and Hungary, which have benefited greatly from infusions of funds from Brussels, just 27 percent of Greek, 38 percent of French and 47 percent of Spanish citizens hold a favorable view.A spring survey by the Pew Research Center found that while support for the bloc remains strong in Poland and Hungary, which have benefited greatly from infusions of funds from Brussels, just 27 percent of Greek, 38 percent of French and 47 percent of Spanish citizens hold a favorable view.
Positive views of the European Union fell, often substantially, in five of the six countries surveyed by Pew in both 2015 and 2016. Even Germany, where strong support for the so-called European project had been an unwavering feature of postwar politics, euroskepticism is on the rise, with 48 percent of those polled saying they had an unfavorable view of the bloc.Positive views of the European Union fell, often substantially, in five of the six countries surveyed by Pew in both 2015 and 2016. Even Germany, where strong support for the so-called European project had been an unwavering feature of postwar politics, euroskepticism is on the rise, with 48 percent of those polled saying they had an unfavorable view of the bloc.
Speaking as he arrived for the summit meeting, President François Hollande of France said the “situation today in the United Kingdom,” with political turmoil, a plunging currency and credit rating downgrades, should alert other Europeans of the need to stick together. “Many people today are asking the same question,” he said. “What do we do if confronted by the same choice” that British voters faced. Speaking as he arrived for the summit meeting, President François Hollande of France said the situation today in the United Kingdom, with political turmoil, a plunging currency and credit rating downgrades, should alert other Europeans of the need to stick together. “Many people today are asking the same question,” he said. “What do we do if confronted by the same choice” British voters faced.
The Swedish prime minister, Stefan Lofven, said the first task was for “Britain to make up its mind” about its intentions. But he added that the bloc then needed to figure out a way to connect more with ordinary people. The question of when Britain will invoke Article 50, opening negotiations, has dominated discussion in London and some other capitals, but has left some leaders cold.
“We need to develop much more of a citizens’ union. We need to make much more clear that this is an organization for European citizens,” he said. Mr. Lofven, a Social Democrat, gave no clear picture of how this might be done, offering only an appeal for more jobs and better social services. “I think it’s utterly disappointing that, when we are faced with the biggest political crisis in the history of the European Union, what’s grabbing the headlines is the obscure Article 50,” Joseph Muscat, the prime minister of Malta, saidin Brussels. The far more important issue, he said, is “that this is a Europe that people are feeling increasingly estranged from and that it is our duty that we take action.”
The vital task facing leaders meeting in Brussels is the divorce settlement with Britain, which has so far stalled on formally starting the separation process. The question of when Britain will invoke Article 50, opening negotiations, has dominated discussion in London and some other capitals, but has left some leaders cold.
“I think it’s utterly disappointing that, when we are faced with the biggest political crisis in the history of the European Union, what’s grabbing the headlines is the obscure Article 50,” Joseph Muscat, the prime minister of Malta, told reporters in Brussels. The far more important issue, he said, is “that this is a Europe that people are feeling increasingly estranged from and that it is our duty that we take action.”
Mr. Cameron, who has said he will step down by October, wants the divorce negotiations handled by his successor. This has infuriated many of his peers, though several leaders have taken the delay as a sign that Britain might, in the end, decide to stay in the European Union.
Asked on Monday how she would respond to such an about-face, President Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania beamed and said, “Welcome, welcome back!”
A more widely held view is that, having voted to bolt, Britain needs to make a swift and clean break so as to contain the Brexit contagion and stop it spreading to other countries, notably France, where the far-right National Front has called for the country to hold its own referendum on whether to leave. Populist parties in Denmark and the Netherlands want to do the same.