Cameron tells EU leaders they must offer UK more control over immigration

PM warned Brussels summit that free movement was at heart of Britain’s decision to reject European Union

Sources from Number 10 said Cameron would be recommending as close an economic relationship as possible with the EU. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/Reuters-- David Cameron and François Hollande during the EU summit meeting. Photograph: Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images

EU leaders with David Cameron fifth from right. Photograph: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images

Heather Stewart andJennifer Rankin in Brussels-Tuesday 28 June 2016

David Cameron warned Europe’s leaders that they will have to offer the UK more control over immigration at the end of a fractious day where politicians across Europe clashed over the meaning and consequences of last week’s Brexit vote.

The British prime minster used his last Brussels summit to tell Angela Merkel,François Hollande and other European heads of government that anxieties about unrestricted freedom of movement were at the heart of the decision by Britons to reject the EU. 

Earlier in the day, however, many MEPs had turned their backs on Nigel Farage and jeered as the Ukip leader celebrated the result, although he drew the support of the far-right French deputy Marine Le Pen, who told the European parliament: “Look at how beautiful history is!”

Speaking ahead of the summit dinner, a Number 10 source said that Cameron would talk about what led to the unexpected result over a dinner of poached veal tenderloin and strawberries: “In particular, he will say that in his view, it’s in the interests of the UK, and the EU, that we have as close an economic relationship as possible; and the key to staying close is to look at reform to free movement, and how do you address that issue”.

Cameron’s remarks came hours after an acrimonious debate in the European parliament discussing the referendum result. Farage was angrily confronted by European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. “I’m really surprised you are here. You are fighting for the exit. The British people voted in favour of the exit. Why are you here?” Juncker said, in front of a packed session of MEPs in the European parliament.

Farage told parliament that they were “in denial”. He said hardly any of the MEPs had ever done a proper job in their lives, or created one. “We now offer a beacon of hope to democrats across the European continent,” he said. “The UK will not be the last member state to leave the EU.” He added: “You’re not laughing now, are you?”

Angela Merkel and other European leaders, meeting for the first EU summit since last Friday’s result, ruled out any special favours for Britain yesterday, insisting there would be no “cherry-picking exercise” in the exit negotiations. In a speech to the Bundestag ahead of the summit on Tuesday, the German chancellor said: “There must be, and there will be, a palpable difference between those countries who want to be members of the European family and those who don’t.”

These words have been echoed by other EU leaders including Italy’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi. Xavier Bettel, prime minister of Luxembourg, added that the UK could not have a Facebook-style “it’s complicated” status with the rest of the EU: Britain could have “marriage or divorce, but not something in between”.

EU leaders also insist there will be no informal talks on a future trade settlement until the UK triggers article 50, which begins the exit process.

Juncker also urged Britain’s politicians to open up exit negotiations as soon as possible. “I would like our British friends to tell us what they want so we can get on with it,” he told a packed session of MEPs in the European parliament in Brussels.

At his final summit, the prime minister had to take part in long-planned discussions on migration, European security and the single market. Sticking to the timetable is intended to show the EU is still in business, despite the Brexit crisis that has raised fears of the union’s disintegration.

Cameron has repeatedly insisted since announcing his departure last Friday that detailed questions about what deal Britain may want with the rest of the EU are for his successor to answer.

But as he arrived in Brussels, he made clear he hoped to smooth the path for Brexit talks. “I hope the outcome can be as constructive as possible, because of course while we’re leaving theEuropean Union, we mustn’t be turning our backs on Europe.

“These countries are our neighbours, our friends, our allies, our partners and I very much hope we’ll seek the closest possible relationship in terms of trade and cooperation and security, because that is good for us and that is good for them,” he said.

Number 10 sources said Merkel has been understanding about Cameron’s decision not to invoke article 50 – the formal process for withdrawal from the EU – immediately. “I think what you’ve seen from Chancellor Merkel in the days since the referendum is her being one of the voices 

across Europe recognising the decisions that the prime minister has taken and that there will now be some time, and that was certainly her tone today, and that of other leaders.”

EU leaders are resigned to the fact Britain will not trigger article 50 immediately, because of the political and constitutional crises engulfing the country. But the pressure is likely to be raised once a new prime minister is in place.

Some EU politicians are hedging their bets on Brexit, or at least taking care with language. An EU diplomat said Brexit would be “an amputation”, adding, “if it materialises”.

Asked what would happen if the UK never triggered article 50, the Lithuanian president, Dalia Grybauskaitė, said: “welcome, welcome back”. Although she also said “mentally and psychologically, Brexit” was already happening.

Some EU diplomats think it was a mistake for European council president Donald Tusk to set up a group known as the Brexit taskforce. They stress the UK has not triggered article 50 divorce proceedings and remains a member of the club.

Cameron had hoped to be travelling to Brussels this week to reassure his fellow leaders that a remain vote in the referendum had settled the issue of Britain’s relationship with the EU for a generation.

Instead, the 27 other member states, who will have to agree what status to offer Britain when formal exit talks begin, will meet on Wednesday to discuss the way forward without him.

Cameron will return to the House of Commons to face prime minister’s questions, as Conservative MPs kick off their leadership campaigns.

Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, promised to convene a special summit of EU leaders in Bratislava in September, in an attempt to chart a course for the 27 remaining member states. The UK will not be invited, underlining its newly diminished status.

Reactions in Brussels to Britain’s vote for Brexit ranged from sadness to alarm, but officials insisted the show would go on. Some junior staff said they cried on hearing the results on Friday morning. Juncker said he was sad because he was not “a robot, a grey bureaucrat or a technocrat”.

Senior EU diplomats are also perplexed about how the prime minister managed to turn what they saw as a very generous deal – negotiated in February – into a catastrophic defeat that has plunged Britain into crisis. EU insiders thought the UK had got an exceptional offer, and were left bitter and disappointed when Cameron didn’t use it in the referendum campaign.