Gabriel Schembri is reporting from Brussels
European People’s Party Romanian MEP Siegfried Muresan said today that a major lesson that the EU needs to learn from the Brexit Referendum is that the people need to be more informed.
As the EU institutions are still settling into the idea that the UK will leave the union following a referendum held last week, discussions at the European Commission all revolve around the effects of Brexit, including meetings held at the EPP headquarters.
Speaking to journalists during a meeting in the offices of the EPP in Brussels, Mr Muresan said that from now on, confrontation with the populist politicians in Europe will be much harder than in the past. Reacting to the UK’s referendum which has jet-legged EU institutions, the MEP said that the result is a sad one but the voice of the people must be respected.
“We do not like the result of the referendum; it is not what we wished for. But we have to respect the vote. The question is how the EU will tackle this issue in the future.”
He noticed how the UK’s Prime Minister David Cameron decided not to invoke article 50 of the European Treaty immediately as promised before the referendum. This, he said, might avoid a disorderly exit of the UK from the EU.
“We cannot forget and ignore where this referendum came from. It was a promise by Cameron to appease his euro-sceptics.” The MEP said that Cameron was not consistent, because at one point he was criticizing the EU harshly, but decided to promote the benefits of the European Union in the middle of the ‘remain’ campaign. Cameron should have known that UK’s exit option would be capitalized by the euro-sceptics. The more room he gave them, the more they weakened him.”
“The future belongs to the strong politicians who are ready to face the populist movements. EPP aims to safeguard the citizens of the UK in this transition.”
He insisted that the Brexit was caused by a lot of misinformation and said that people in the UK blamed the EU for the financial crisis, when the euro has nothing to do with the economic crisis in the UK.
Mr Muresan lambasted calls by the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to mutualise debt in the EU, “which essentially translates into: allow us to make more debt.”
“Unfortunately, the idea that when some country takes hit, other countries call for more benefits is a mentality which still exists.”
Asked about the negotiations which will follow until Brexit takes place, the MEP said that the EU had clearly stated that there will be no re-negotiating after the referendum. He said that the important thing is that populists in other countries are not left to gain ground. “We have to counter attack populists by being more informative to the public.”
“The most influential spokespersons for the EU in each and every country are the Prime Minister of each country. People in Germany listen to Angela Merkel much more than politicians who sit in Brussels.”
Journalists in Brussels also had the opportunity to meet with Jyrki Katainen, Commissioner for Jobs, Growth and Investment and Vice-President of the EPP.
He said that the European Market is very precarious at the moment, because everything is still open. “Brexit has surely created a great deal of instability in Europe. I don’t want to put more pressure, but the EU must act quickly because instability causes loss of investment. That is why the post referendum process must start as soon as possible.”
Asked to assess the effect of Brexit on small countries such as Malta, the EPP Vice-President said that small countries tend to be most vulnerable to political instability. But he further noted that no particular risks are observed at this stage.
Later today, country leaders members of the EU’s largest political family, the EPP, is expected to meet with the Brexit on the very top of its agenda. Journalists from various media in Europe have flocked to the EU capital seeking answers to an unprecedented dilemma.