'There was an atmosphere of sadness in the European Parliament over Brexit' - Martin Schulz

"There was an atmosphere of sadness in the European Parliament," EU Parliament President Martin Schulz told a press conference this afternoon.

He was addressing a press conference within the European Council, in Brussels and was referring the the Parliamentary debate on Brexit. He described Britain's decision to leave as having changed the nature of both the EU and the UK.

"Nobody a week ago though Fitch or Standard and Poors would downgrade the UK's rating, thus showing the difficult times we are in. The referendum is a real change we must react to".

In Parliament, there was an atmosphere of sadness, with MEPs really regretting what has happened. We need the UK as a full member of the EU and that is also what the UK needs, but we must recognise the sovereign will of the British people. I like many colleagues today were thinking of the 70% of under 25s in Britain who voted to remain, and who even after the referendum are making it clear that they are European".

He stressed that there is hope for resuscitating the European feeling among the youth.

The Parliament, he said, has called on British Prime Minister Cameron to trigger article 50 as soon as possible, following up on the referendum decision. "The reason is that nobody has any experience with this process. Article 50 has never been used. It makes sense not to hang around and wait, but plan for moving ahead, dealing with the exit of a member state."

"We understand that the UK government needs a few weeks to analyse the implications of what happened and work out its own plan for moving ahead. But if we had to wait until a new British Prime Minister establishes his or her position, then that probably means waiting until next year. I would refer here to the great uncertainty of the economy and financial interests. It does not make sense for anyone to wait that long, but rather makes sense to trigger article 50 as soon as possible".

He also condemned racist attacks being made against EU citizens living in the UK.

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