BRUSSELS // European leaders, hoping to stave off a broader political crisis following Britain’s shock decision to leave the EU last week, agreed on Wednesday to spend the next nine months developing proposals for an overhaul of the bloc amid deep divisions between its members.
Disillusion with the European Union has risen sharply following years of economic weakness and after a record influx of refugees and a series of deadly attacks by extremists.
The problems have fuelled the sense that elites in Brussels and other European capitals are ineffective and out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people.
Last week, the anger bubbled over in Britain’s Brexit vote, which threw six decades of closer European integration into reverse and raised fears of a domino effect on the continent, where anti-EU, xenophobic parties are on the rise.
EU leaders, who met on Wednesday without Britain, agree that change is needed. But they also know that time is required to get the remaining 27 members behind a common European initiative due to a deep divide over what lessons to draw from Brexit.
German chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking at the end of the summit, said it was unrealistic to consider radical changes, such as moving towards a fiscal or political union, in the current environment. These would require changes to the EU’s Lisbon Treaty and more referendums, which leaders are desperate to avoid.
“It is not about more or less Europe but about delivering better results,” Mrs Merkel said.
“Our citizens often don’t understand why we are doing something and what our goals are. All of us want to change this. It is not about changing the EU Treaty, about introducing more laws or less. It’s about delivering on our goals.”
Officials said that Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, who holds the rotating presidency of the EU, had made clear to other leaders that it was not the time for “revolutions”.
Another top official acknowledged that vague pledges to create a “better Europe” were largely empty but that the main priority for now was to send a simple message that everyone around the table could agree on.
The period of “political reflection” will start in earnest in mid-September at a summit in Bratislava, Slovakia. Some EU leaders have said the goal is to reach a set of proposals by March of next year, the 60th anniversary of the EU’s founding Rome Treaty.
The period mirrors the one that followed French and Dutch rejections of a European constitution in dual referendums in 2005. Mrs Merkel came to power the same year and led negotiations on the more modest Lisbon Treaty.
But the current crisis is more existential for the EU because of the Brexit vote, which in one fell swoop looked to deprive the bloc of one of its only economic and political heavyweights.
UK Conservative Party contenders began to emerge on Wednesday to replace prime minister David Cameron, who announced his resignation after Britons voted to leave the EU against his advice.
His successor will get the challenge – or the poisoned chalice – of becoming the country’s next leader and negotiating Britain’s exit.
Conservative lawmakers have until noon Thursday to announce their candidacy.
The first contender to make it official was work and pensions secretary Stephen Crabb, who said he was running because “I don’t see anybody who provides a compelling answer” to the question of how to heal a deeply divided nation.
The 43-year-old, who was raised by a single mother in public housing, said he would offer “resilience, optimism, humility, strength”. Although he backed the “remain” side in the referendum, he promised to deliver a “negotiated exit” from the EU.
Former mayor Boris Johnson, who led the “leave” side in the referendum, has the support of several senior Tory lawmakers. Environment secretary Liz Truss wrote that she was backing the 52-year-old because the new leader must be “someone who believes in, and campaigned for, leaving the EU”.
Home secretary Theresa May, who backed the “remain” side but is seen as competent and experienced, is also expected to run. Ms May, 59, could appeal to a large chunk of Conservatives who mistrust the flamboyant, Latin-spouting Mr Johnson, who has been accused of using the referendum as a platform for his leadership ambitions and of failing to draw up plans for what to do if his “leave” side did win.
Former defence secretary Liam Fox said he would formally announce his candidacy on Thursday. Mr Fox, who is on the anti-EU wing of the party, had to resign from government in 2011 after allowing a friend access to official meetings and overseas visits.
After nominations close, Conservative lawmakers will vote and whittle down the candidates to two. Those names will be put to a postal vote of all party members, with the result announced on September 9.
* Reuters, Associated Press
