European Parliament urges London to begin formal Brexit proceedings

The European Parliament has called on Britain’s prime minister to begin formal proceedings for the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU) at a summit this week.

“Hesitating simply to accommodate the party tactics of the British Conservatives hurts everyone,” said President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz in an interview with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag on Sunday, adding that a state of limbo over the Brexit, a name used to refer to the UK’s exit, would “lead to even more insecurity and thus endanger jobs.”

“That is why we expect the British government to now deliver. The summit on Tuesday is the right time,” he said, referring to the first of two consecutive summits, which the EU has scheduled to be held on June 28 and June 29 to discuss the consequences of the Brexit on the future of now 27 members of the EU.

Schulz’s comments came three days after the results of the referendum in the UK showed that a majority of Britons voted to leave the bloc.

In the June 23 referendum, some 51.90 percent of British voters opted to leave the EU, while roughly 48.10 percent of people voted to stay in the union.

The EU has also drawn up a draft resolution urging Britain to set the Brexit ball rolling at this week’s summit.

British Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation after the release of the final results on June 24. He said he would leave office in fall and leave negotiations on the Brexit to his successor.

However, pressure is mounting over Cameron as foreign ministers from the EU’s six founding states, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, on Saturday urged London to start the separation process “as soon as possible.” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the delay could drive Europe to financial and political insecurity.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, however, has tended to be more lenient toward Westminster, saying the EU should not be “nasty” in the negotiations and that it is up to Britain to decide when to start withdrawal proceedings.

Speaking at a news conference in Potsdam, Germany, on Saturday, Merkel said the bureaucratic procedure for Britain’s exit from the EU “shouldn’t take forever” but that she “would not fight over a short period of time.”

Meanwhile, Chief of Staff of the German Chancellery Peter Altmaier raised doubt that Cameron would begin withdrawal proceedings on Tuesday, saying, “I have no indication that will happen. I tend to think that the application will be filed in the coming weeks or months, possibly only by a new government.”

Also on Sunday, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the UK cabinet would remain in place until a new prime minister is elected. The cabinet has become deeply divided after the UK decided to pull out of the EU.

Britain, being the first state to leave the EU, should invoke Article 50 of the EU Lisbon Treaty in order to set out a two-year timetable for negotiations on withdrawal.

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