French President Francois Hollande (left) talks to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and Luxembourg’s Xavier Bettel (right) next to Germany’s Angela Merkel in Brussels yesterday. Photo: Reuters

With Britain still unable to describe its desired relationship with the EU, leaders across Europe still harbour doubts as to whether Brexit will happen at all.

This may be a suppressed sentiment but is one which Prime Minister Joseph Muscat verbalised at the end of a summit of EU leaders yesterday that closed with a sober discussion between 27 states.

The UK was not present for the breakfast meeting yesterday, with British Prime Minister David Cameron having his last supper at a European council on Tuesday. Mr Cameron will step down by September, when the Conservative Party will have chosen his successor.

Until that happens, nothing Brexit-related can really occur, since Mr Cameron informed EU leaders on Tuesday he would want any decisions to be taken by a new prime minister.

Dr Muscat said there was consensus among the 27 member states that Britain should be given a breather until September. The decision is a practical one more than anything else, since the UK has no official position yet on what type of relationship it wants with Brussels.

The relationship must be strong,but the UK will not be given any special status

Dr Muscat acknowledged that, “at the back of everybody’s minds”, was the unasked question on whether the UK would really exit the EU. “There are different scenarios, but it would be pure speculation at this stage and everyone is making the assumption they will leave,” he said

The debate between the 27 states was sober and “euro-realist”, Dr Muscat said, describing it as a welcome shift in attitude.

The mood was more understanding, he said, signalling a change from the “arrogant” tone displayed by some in the EU institutions in the aftermath of the Brexit vote last week.

But European leaders have started drawing red lines, making it clear that if the UK wanted full access to the single market, it would have to embrace the free movement of people. There are various existing models the UK can adopt, but none allow full access to the single market without the free movement of people.

Curbing migration was a central plank of the Leave campaign that is at odds with the concept of the free movement of people.

“The relationship must be strong, but the UK will not be given any special status and it will be treated as a third country during talks,” Dr Muscat said.

No formal decision was taken on what happens with the UK presidency of the EU in the second half of next year, with Mr Cameron on Tuesday saying he would like that decision to be made by his successor.

Dr Muscat said it was not desirable for Malta to extend its six-month presidency that starts in January 2017 to a full year, since this would create a human resources and financial burden.