Debate on the Outcome of the referendum in the United Kingdom, during the&nbsp;Extraordinary Plenary sessionof the EP in Brussels. Statements by Manfred WEBER (EPP, DE), EPP Group leader, Giovanni PITTELLA (S&amp;D, IT), SD Group leader, Syed KAMALL (ECR, UK), ECR Group leader, Guy VERHOFSTADT (ALDE, BE), ALDE Group leader, Gabriele ZIMMER (GUE/NGL, DE), GUE-NGL Group leader, Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), Greens Group leader,&nbsp; Nigel FARAGE (EFDD, UK), UKIP Group leader, and Marine LE PEN (ENF, FR), ENF Group leader

Brussels

VERHOFSTADT, Guy (Renew, BE)

Brexit (T)

referendum on EU membership (T)

EU - United Kingdom (T)

debate

plenary session

WEBER, Manfred (EPP, DE)

PITTELLA, Gianni (S&D, IT)

LAMBERTS, Philippe (Greens/EFA, BE)

FARAGE, Nigel (NI, UK)

KAMALL, Syed (ECR, UK)

ZIMMER, Gabriele (GUE/NGL, DE)

LE PEN, Marine (ENF, FR)

Outcome of the referendum in the United Kingdom: extracts from the EP Extraordinary Plenary session (1st part)

SOUNDBITE (English), Manfred WEBER (EPP, DE), EP Group leader, <p>A whole young generation is in in shock. More than 73% of young British wanted to stay European. Their hopes have been destroyed.</p>

SOUNDBITE (German), Manfred WEBER (EPP, DE), EPP Group leader, The UK has harmed itself though this referendum. Everybody can see how the UK has slid into a crisis of government, it is damaging itself economically and may even fall apart. That is the result if you leave the EU. And for us, all of us, we need to respect the result, and that is why we expect as the President of the Commission said, that an Article 50 notification will be put forward and negotiations will start rapidly. This has to be done with transparency so that the EP can have its say.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Giovanni PITTELLA (S&amp;D, IT), SD Group leader, We are proposing that for the next European elections, there should be direct elections for the President of the Commission to lead, to be a kind of mayor of the EU, so that we have a kind of premiership of the EU together with national parties and European parties, that would mean creating a real political arena, a real political space in Europe.

SOUNDBITE (English), Syed KAMALL (ECR, UK), ECR Group leader, What if British politicians would have been more honest to the British people about the political dimension of the EU and the dream of a United States of Europe? What if the EU had offered more in negotiations with the British people?That is now all in the past. Now, politicians in the UK and the EU both need to look the future. And both sides of the channel we need to pause and start thinking about our negotiating strategies. Let us think carefully in the short term about the best relationship for us both in the long term.

SOUNDBITE (English), Guy VERHOFSTADT (ALDE, BE), ALDE Group leader, <p>We need as fast as possible to end this uncertainty as soon as possible, that is needed now. The worst thing that can happen is to continue this uncertainty. Only the immediate evocation I think, of the procedure for a clean separation as foreseen in the Treaty can end what I call the toxic climate that has been created since Thursday of last week. A toxic climate that is bad for business, bad for investment, and bad Mr. Farage, for all hard-working, ordinary decent people.</p>

SOUNDBITE (German), Gabriele ZIMMER (GUE/NGL, DE), GUE-NGL Group leader, My group is unable to vote in favour of the resolution. We are not seeing any real self-criticism, any self-reflection there.

SOUNDBITE (French), Philippe LAMBERTS (Greens/EFA, BE), Greens Group leader, You are lying! Because who can believe, that even the most poweful of the EU members can deal alone and successfully with the power of the multinationals, with tax evasion, with organised crime, with terrorism, with the reception of refugees and migrants? I am telling you, no wall will be high and thick enough to isolate Europe from the challenges of the 21st century. Today, the only sovereignty is a shared one.

SOUNDBITE (English), Nigel FARAGE (EFDD, UK), UKIP Group leader, What the little people did, what the ordinary people did, what the people who've been oppressed over the last few years and seen their living standards go down did, they rejected the multinationals, they rejected the merchant banks, they rejected big politics, and they said, actually, we want our country back. We want our fishing waters back, we want our borders back. We want to be an independent, self-governing, normal, nation. And that is what we have done, and that is what must happen.

SOUNDBITE (English), Nigel FARAGE (EFDD, UK), UKIP Group leader, I ll make one prediction this morning, the UK will not be the last Member State to leave the EU.

SOUNDBITE (French), Marine LE PEN (ENF, FR), ENF Group leader, The British people has committed heresy by breaking the chains linking them to the EU, raised as a religion by its propagandists. Now, you have been blind for decades, by implementing absurd policies, which has brought dis-industrialisation, mass unemployment and mass immigration. Then it is difficult to come back to reality and see what has actually happened.