David Cameron bade an emotional farewell to the EU on Tuesday night, saying Britain would not “turn its back on Europe” but claiming he could have avoided Brexit had European leaders let him control migration.
Mr Cameron, attending his final Brussels summit, said he wanted Britain to have “the closest possible” relations with the EU in future, but that the immigration issue could bedevil talks on a trade deal.
French officials said Mr Cameron insisted that he could have won last week’s referendum had EU leaders granted him an “emergency brake” on migration which, he said, was “a driving factor” behind the Out vote.
But that claim was bluntly contested by Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president. “My impression is that if you over years, if not decades, tell citizens that something is wrong with the EU, that the EU is too technocratic, too bureaucratic, you cannot be taken by surprise if voters believe you.”
Mr Cameron said his final supper at a Brussels summit had been “positive, constructive and purposeful”, with European leaders lining up to praise Britain’s positive contribution to the bloc’s history.
But already there was a sense that Angela Merkel, German chancellor, and other European leaders had turned a page and were moving on to a future as a club of 27 without Britain.
“I don’t see a way of turning this round. It’s not the time for wishful thinking but for looking at reality,” Ms Merkel said.
The farewell to Mr Cameron was sad “but it’s a reality”, she said. “We’re politicians and we shouldn’t be detained for too long by sorrow. We made our feelings clear but we have to accept reality and draw the necessary conclusions.”
Mr Cameron told colleagues that he expected the next British prime minister to be “pragmatic” in exit negotiations. Those at the dinner said he named either Boris Johnson, the former London mayor and Brexit supporter, or Theresa May, the home secretary and Remain supporter, as his likely successor.
Mr Cameron wants Britain to retain access to the single market but told EU leaders they would have to accept that voters in Britain could not accept free movement of workers as an entry price.
Ms Merkel, however, made it clear that Britain would not have full access to the single market unless it accepted free movement, setting the stage for a Brexit showdown between the EU and Mr Cameron’s successor.
Addressing the German Bundestag before the Brussels summit, Ms Merkel warned the UK that there would be no “cherry picking” in its Brexit negotiations.
Mr Cameron told European leaders that Mr Johnson and his fellow Brexit campaigners had “no plan” and that the EU would have to wait until after a new Conservative party leader was elected on September 9 to see how Britain intended to proceed.
“We should not take too much time, but some time,” he said.