Brexit reactions: Mockery, worry in European press, EU says Brits can still change their minds

RT
Thu, 30 Mar 2017 16:24 UTC

© Christian Hartmann / Reuters

The European press is just as preoccupied with Brexit Day as its British counterparts, dedicating whole pages to the first EU divorce.

German paper Die Welt opted to send out a friendly message to Britain, writing: "Dear Brits, ze door is schtill open."

Comment: EU lawmakers apparently agree:

Senior figures in the European Parliament are drafting a resolution to halt the two-year Brexit process, which has now begun after Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

While the draft resolution is yet to be finalized, it is aimed at putting power back into the hands of those who want to overturn the result of last June's EU referendum, which saw the majority of Britons vote to leave the bloc.

"We do not want to close the door to common sense," Philippe Lamberts, Belgian co-leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, told Reuters.

A member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats group has backed the claim that a draft resolution is being included for the UK to retract its decision.

The clause, however, would require all 27 remaining EU member states to approve of giving Britain a second chance at membership.

The paper goes on to signal that while Prime Minister Theresa May was eager to sign the letter invoking Article 50, "many in Brussels and Berlin do not want the Brexit yet."

"Ultimately, the EU's second-largest net contributor could still correct, in their eyes the historical mistake, throughout the negotiating phase," the paper added.

However, Die Welt's smaller version, Die Welt Kompakt, was less forgiving, featuring a large front-page image of May aboard a Union Jack paper boat adrift at sea. Above the striking picture the word "farewell" was written in block letters.

The country's second-largest newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine, opted to give Brexit a small space on its cover, with the words "breaking up hurts" next to a picture of the House of Commons.

"The EU must remain tough in the Brexit negotiations with Great Britain," argued Germany's other media titan Die Zeit. The headline of the article was also cause for controversy, as the words "The Art of the Deal" clearly evoked US President Donald Trump, whose bestselling book has the same title.

The French press seemed more saddened than its German neighbors, with the left paper Liberation fronting with the words "we miss you already" over an image of a member of the Queen's Guard.

Their colleagues at Le Monde worried about the "consequences of the break-up."

The Italians at La Repubblica decided to focus on the Scottish independence referendum as a "challenge" to London and Brexit Britain. The famous Corriere della Sera talked of British "uncertainty" at the moment of the "jump," after Brexit minister David Davis confirmed there would be no cap on EU immigration after all.

The most curious, perhaps, might have been Spain's El Pais, which fell in love with Downing Street's cat Larry, streaming footage of the feline sitting outside the door of Number 10, waiting to be let in.

Other articles on the famous feline followed.

Spanish finance newspaper Expansion, however, spoke of Spanish City workers worrying about Brexit.

Comment: The pound made a recovery and the euro took a minor pounding since the announcement:

Britain's pound sterling regained earlier losses after falling to $1.24 against the dollar and the euro has slumped as 'Brexit Day' spooks the markets.

The pound recovered quickly after Prime Minister Theresa May invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, officially launching the divorce negotiations between Britain and the EU.

However market analyst Chris Beauchamp of IG said the repercussions are not as bad as they could be down the line.
...
"However the real impact will be in the response from the EU, both in the near-term and over the next few months as the bloc begins to put its negotiating position together in concrete fashion."

Brussels has meanwhile blocked a merger of the London Stock Exchange Group and marketplace organizer Deutsche Börse in a move which had been expected.

The decision ends a 15-month effort to combine the two exchanges to form a single bloc capable of competing with the US.

The deal, which was being attempted for the third time, was impaired by the UK's decision to leave the EU.

EU competition regulator Margrethe Vestager told the Financial Times it would have created "a de facto monopoly."