Brexit Fallout: Stocks Tumble and EU Asks UK to Leave 'As Soon As Possible'
Days after United Kingdom voters decided through referendum to leave the European Union, foreign ministers from the E.U.'s six founding member states asked Britain to start the exit process and designate a new prime minister as soon as possible so that the economic fallout is not prolonged.
It would "not be respectful" for the U.K. to delay the initiation of the Brexit process, France's foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said after the foreign ministers' meet for emergency talks in Berlin during the weekend, according to The Guardian.
Britain can do so by using article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, the formal mechanism for leaving the EU, which allows a member state to notify the EU of its withdrawal and requires that the EU make an attempt to negotiate a "withdrawal agreement" with that state.
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In a statement, the foreign ministers of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands said they "expect the UK government to provide clarity and give effect to this decision as soon as possible."
"We stand ready to work with the institutions once the negotiations in order to define and clarify the future relations between the EU and the UK will start," the statement said. "We take this very seriously and are determined to make the EU work better for all our citizens. We have to focus our common efforts on those challenges which can only be addressed by common European answers, while leaving other tasks to national or regional levels."
There's "a certain urgency," Ayrault said, adding that "a new prime minister must be designated, that will take a few days."
British Prime Minister David Cameron announcement after the referendum that he will resign, but a new leader is expected to take office only in October.
On Friday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker also said, "Britons decided that they want to leave the European Union, so it doesn't make any sense to wait until October to try to negotiate the terms of their departure."
The British pound came down to the lowest level in 30 years, tumbling 13 percent, after the result of the referendum came out. U.K. stocks also tumbled. Banking stocks lost as much as 32 percent.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, however, has suggested there's no need to hurry. "What's important is that Great Britain has not put into motion this proposal, and also the agreement isn't finished," she said, according to CNN.
"Great Britain continues to be a full member of the EU with all rights and responsibilities," Merkel said. "I also spoke to the British Prime Minister about that and he confirms the same. We were sad yesterday that the vote went that way. And that is no reason to be in a way especially nasty during the negotiations, but that must be properly dealt with."
