President of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has described Brexit as a “failure and a tragedy”.
Speaking to the BBC about the EU’s 60th anniversary in Rome this weekend, Juncker said: “It is a failure and a tragedy. I will be sad, as I was sad when the vote in the referendum took place in Britain. For me, it is a tragedy.”
The EU’s most senior civil servant said that whilst the result of the UK’s referendum was definitely a sad one, he promised Brussels would approach negotiations in a “friendly” and fair way – but warned that they were not going to be naive.
Speaking about the bill that will be given the Britain for leaving, which reports suggest could amount to as much as €60bn (£52bn), Juncker said: “It will be a bill reflecting former commitments by the British government and by the British parliament. There will be no sanctions, no punishment, nothing of that kind.”
These former commitments include projects that the UK previously agreed to help fund, as well as pensions for EU officials who served whilst the UK was still part of the bloc.
Mr Juncker said that the total amount is not yet know and will need to be “scientifically calculated.”
When asked about Theresa May’s absence at the EU celebrations this weekend, Juncker said that of course her absence would be noticed, however there would be no hostilities towards Britain.
“I am everything but in a hostile mood with Britain. Britain is part of Europe, and I hope to have a friendly relationship with the UK over the next decades.”
One thing the President of the EU commission did make clear about future Brexit negotiations was protecting the status of the 3 million EU nationals resident in the UK and the 1 million Britons living in Europe.
“I am strongly committed to preserving the rights of Europeans living in Britain and British people living on the European continent,” he said. “This is not about bargaining. This is about respecting human dignity.”