Merkel vows to back EU; anti-union parliamentarians hurl insults

BERLIN — Stunned by Britain's vote to leave the European Union, leaders of the bloc's member states converged in Brussels on Tuesday to respond to one of the greatest challenges ever to confront the 28-nation bloc.

Before departing for Brussels, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said she would use "all her strength" to prevent the EU from drifting apart.

In a 20-minute speech to the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament, Merkel said she expected that Britain would want to maintain "close relations" with the EU after it leaves, but she also signaled that Britain could not expect business as usual.

"Whoever wants to leave this family cannot expect to have no more obligations but to keep the privileges," she said.

Merkel reiterated that there could be no talks with Britain on leaving the EU until Britain starts formal procedures to leave, a point she made Monday after meeting with the leaders of France and Italy — and quashed any idea of exploring alternative arrangements before then.

"The talks can begin only then, and not before — either formally or informally," she said.

[With economic fears rising, Britain hopes to stay in EU market]

She made clear that Britain could not expect full access to the EU's common market without accepting its conditions, including the free movement of people. Immigration was the crux of the often ugly debate that accompanied the so-called Brexit campaign.

"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," Merkel said.

Arriving for the leaders' meeting, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain told reporters, "I'll be explaining that Britain will be leaving the European Union, but I want that process to be as constructive as possible, and I hope the outcome can be as constructive as possible."

Cameron will dine with his counterparts Tuesday evening to discuss the aftershocks of the British referendum on Thursday, but will then return to London — leaving the other leaders to spend Wednesday reflecting on the bloc's future.

At a special meeting of the European Parliament on Tuesday, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, the EU's executive body, denounced the nature of the debate in Britain, where he has often been a punching bag for the tabloids.

"I am accused of being undemocratic, as a faceless bureaucrat, as some kind of robot," he said. "That's the way I'm portrayed in the United Kingdom. I respect what the British people have said. But I think we've got to see some consequences. I don't think we should see any shadowboxing or cat-and-mouse games. We need to know — and this is pure common sense — that new relations are beginning with the United Kingdom."

He said there would be no "secret negotiations" with British officials, and he cautioned anti-European parties throughout the Continent against celebration.

Juncker vowed that "the European dream will continue" and insisted that "this is not the time to turn inward."

The European Parliament adopted a nonbinding resolution that asks Britain to set the clock ticking "as soon as possible" on the Article 50 process, which could lead to a withdrawal from the EU in two years. (An earlier draft of the resolution had called on Britain to invoke the legal process "immediately.")

Before the vote, anti-European lawmakers gloated over the British referendum, saying that it was a deserved comeuppance for a EU whose leaders they have described as elite and out-of-touch.

"You as a political project are in denial," said Nigel Farage, the leader of the anti-European, anti-immigrant U.K. Independence Party and a longtime member of the European Parliament, citing the problems in the eurozone and the refugee crisis. "But the biggest problem you've got — and the reason, the main reason, the United Kingdom voted the way that it did — is that you have, by stealth, by deception, without ever telling the truth to the British or the rest of the peoples of Europe, you have imposed upon them a political union."

He added personal insult to his critique. "Virtually none of you have done a proper job in your lives," he said, as the groans and jeers continued. "Or worked in business or worked in trade or indeed ever created a job."

"Isn't it funny," Farage said. "When I came here 17 years ago and said I wanted to lead a campaign to get Britain to leave the European Union, you all laughed at me. Well, you're not laughing now."

On a more sober note, Farage said he would "like to see a grown-up and sensible attitude to how we negotiate a different relationship" with the EU.

He said there were strong reasons for the EU to maintain ties to Britain after it leaves the bloc. "Between your countries and my country, we do an enormous amount of business in goods and services," he told the European Parliament. "That trade is mutually beneficial to both us. That trade matters. If you were to decide to cut off your noses to spite your faces and to reject any idea of a sensible trade deal, the consequences would be far worse for you than it would be for us."

As the chamber filled with murmurs of disapproval, Farage continued, "Even no deal is better for the United Kingdom than the current, rotten deal that we've got."

Marine Le Pen, the leader of the right-wing National Front in France and also a member of the European Parliament, joined Farage in deriding the bloc.

"The vote by our British friends in favor of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union is by far the most important historic event that our continent has witnessed since the fall of the Berlin Wall," she said. "To those who never ceased to proclaim that the European Union was irreversible, the British people have provided a biting refutation. It is a resounding victory for democracy; it is a slap to the supporters of a European system that is increasingly based on fear, blackmail, and lies."

She added: "The British people have just committed the ultimate sacrilege. They have shattered the chains that bound them to the European Union. To the European Union propagandists who are supposedly on the left, in the center or on the right, go ahead, put away your sulking faces, put away your furious speeches and rejoice instead for the liberation of the people."

Although Farage and Le Pen got the most attention, a Scottish member of the European Parliament, Alyn Smith, received a standing ovation when he gave an impassioned speech noting that a majority of Scots voted to stay in the EU.

"We will need cool heads and warm hearts, but please remember this: Scotland did not let you down," Smith said, his voice rising. "Do not let Scotland down now."

Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, planned to head to Brussels on Wednesday to explore options for keeping Scotland in the EU, and on Tuesday asked the Scottish Parliament, meeting in Edinburgh, to endorse her negotiations.

"I want to be clear to Parliament that while I believe independence is the best option for Scotland — I don't think that will come as a surprise to anyone — it is not my starting point in these discussions," she said. "My starting point is to protect Scotland's interests, to protect Scotland's relationship with the EU."

For all the speeches, the legal process is in limbo for now. Cameron has refused to invoke Article 50, the formal mechanism for leaving the EU, saying the specifics of when and how to do so should be left to his successor. His governing Conservative Party is about to embark on a fierce leadership contest that is supposed to yield a new party leader — and a new prime minister — by Sept. 2.

The opposition Labour Party is also in disarray, with lawmakers planning a no-confidence vote in their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, on Tuesday afternoon. Cameron and Corbyn both supported remaining in the EU, but Labour lawmakers say that Corbyn did not do nearly enough to make the case for staying.