A decade after the Brexit vote, Europe has moved on even if Britain hasn’t
In this week’s newsletter: As the EU consolidates, the UK faces renewed debate over the long‑term shape of its relationship with the continent • Don’t
In this week’s newsletter: As the EU consolidates, the UK faces renewed debate over the long‑term shape of its relationship with the continent • Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here The morning of 24 June 2016, the day after Britain voted to leave the EU, dawned grey and overcast in Brussels, after a stormy night.
As the Guardian’s correspondent in the city, after a few hours’ sleep, I hurried to a breakfast briefing with Conservative MEPs at a smart hotel in the EU quarter. Large trays of eggs, sausages and beans were barely touched, as MEPs fielded questions they couldn’t answer: What happens now? When would the UK leave? Would David Cameron resign?
A few hours later he did. In the EU institutions officials broke down in tears. A few top British EU civil servants prepared to resign. Anti-EU populists were jubilant. European leaders feared a domino effect of withdrawals. Sadness, shock and anger swirled on that humid day. The then-president of the European parliament, Martin Schulz, told me that EU lawyers were studying whether it was possible to speed up the triggering of article 50, the then-obscure and untested EU exit clause.
Then European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker declared he would like to get Brexit negotiations started “immediately”. The idea of hurrying Britain out the door was soon dropped, but those statements reflected the febrile mood. Continue reading...
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