EU Ministers: UK Must Trigger Article 50 Urgently

“We have to interact better what the European Union is done and we have to work harder on concerns such as migration where we have failed”.

The referendum has triggered political and financial turmoil around the world.

Cameron, who yesterday announced his resignation by October in the wake of the referendum, said it should be his successor who leads the complex negotiations under Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty which sets out a two-year timeframe to leave.

France’s Jean-Marc Ayrault called for David Cameron to make way fast for a new British prime minister to manage the transition out of the union. “The settlements need to take place in a businesslike, great climate”, Merkel told a press conference after a conference of her conservative party in Hermannswerder, outside Potsdam to the west of Berlin.

Nearly defiantly, he said that “I’m certain that countries that have something to say will not allow that their Europe will be taken away”.

“As the Prime Minister has said there is no need to invoke Article 50”.

The online petition site hosted by the House of Commons website crashed Friday under the weight of the activity as officials said they’d seen unprecedented interest in the measure.

Vote Leave chief Matthew Elliott said on Saturday there was no rush.

Mr Ayrault also warned of the dangers of delay.

Steinmeier responded by saying there would be “many different conversations” about Britain’s exit in the coming days.

Many Labour lawmakers were strongly pro-“remain” and accuse the socialist Corbyn, a longtime critic of the European Union, of failing to rally Labour supporters behind staying in the bloc. Several are trying to rally support behind a bid to unseat Corbyn.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said it was very important for the foreign ministers to look for “constructive, innovative European cooperation”.

It would not be acceptable for Britain to play a “cat and mouse” game, said Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders told reporters Europe must deliver answers on immigration, security and jobs. “But we must also not fall into depression or inaction after the British decision”.

Credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded the U.K.’s economic outlook from stable to negative, saying Britain faces “a prolonged period of uncertainty. with negative implications for the country’s medium-term growth outlook”. Meanwhile, in Berlin, the EU’s founding nations said on Saturday that they want Britain to begin leaving the union “as soon as possible”.

Sturgeon says voters in Scotland gave “emphatic” backing to remaining in the bloc.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier was meeting with top diplomats from the EU’s five other founding nations in Berlin for hastily arranged talks following Britain’s stunning vote Thursday to leave the union. They all spoke of the need for a speedy renegotiation. “It is up to us to recreate this spirit”, he said, noting all the European countries that subsequently joined after overthrowing dictatorships and embracing democracy.

Steinmeier said there is a need to “show the people of Europe that Europe is important, and not only important but able to carry out its work”.

He also called for Britain to engage in talks sooner rather than later. He added that he would like the terms of departure be negotiated immediately. In Colmar in eastern France, French President Francois Hollande stated the separation “will be painful for Britain however … like in all divorces, it will be painful for those who remain behind too”.

West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg established the European Economic Community in 1957, the forerunner for today’s EU.

However, he cautioned against making rash decisions.