Updated | Brexit talks: Joseph Muscat says EU missing ‘the real issues’

Ahead of his arrival at the European Council, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat took the European Union to task over the way it is handling its reaction to the United Kingdom’s decision to exit the EU.

“Talk of Article 50 is irrelevant for the vast majority of Europeans. The fact that the European Union is talking only about this, rather than real issues, says it all,” Muscat, who is on his way to Brussels, said this morning.

Talk of Art50 irrelevant for vast majority of Europeans. Fact that EU talking only about this rather than real issues says it all -JM #EUCO

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) June 28, 2016

The Labour leader is also attending of meeting of the Party of European Socialists, where all PES leaders are present.

Follow-up on #Brexit will be at the centre of #PESleaders discussions today. Welcome @JosephMuscat_JM pic.twitter.com/jLLt5Ef199

— PES (@PES_PSE) June 28, 2016

@JosephMuscat_JM attending @PES_PSE pre summit meeting #EUCO #Brexit pic.twitter.com/pm4X7VYOtC

— Keith Schembri (@keithaschembri) June 28, 2016

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil is in Brussels as well, for a meeting of the European People’s Party, where he urged the EU to tread cautiously.

#Malta's Leader of @PNmalta @SimonBusuttil has arrived at the #EPPSummit #EUCO pic.twitter.com/hM39MlZshS

— EPP (@EPP) June 28, 2016

“We have to be careful not to take any hurried decisions,” Busuttil said, ahead of the EPP meeting. “Our reactions must be intelligent to show that we can overcome this crisis.”

Insisting that the result of the UK referendum must be respected, Busuttil argued that there should be time for reflection “as the consequences would be huge”.

Although both Muscat and Busuttil appear to be agreeing on an initial position in dealing with Brexit, the PN leader accused Muscat of being “Eurosceptic”.

“Why is Joseph Muscat all over Twitter passing snide eurosceptic remarks, when he just said it would be suicidal to leave?” Busuttil questioned, following Muscat’s tweet.

Why is @JosephMuscat_JM all over Twitter passing snide eurosceptic remarks, when he just said it would be suicidal to leave? @EPP

— Simon Busuttil (@SimonBusuttil) June 28, 2016

Brexit talks have now shifted to when the UK plans on kick-starting the Brexit process – a process which soon-to-be-former UK Prime Minister David Cameron has insisted should be handled by his successor.

But the more powerful EU leaders – Germany, France and Italy – want the UK to activate Article 50 now. Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty would basically would see the member state officially informing the EU of its intention to break ties, launching a two-year exit negotiation process. If member states agree, the period could be longer.

Muscat, whose country is currently the Commonwealth chair-in-office, has already set the tone of his position: the EU should allow the UK some breathing space and realize that discontent amongst European citizens is spreading.

On Friday, Muscat also insisted that Brussels should start focusing more on the “bread and butter issues” which affect the daily lives of EU citizens.

On Monday, Cameron insisted that the launch of formal proceedings was “a sovereign decision” for Britain: in other words, the UK is telling the EU to back off and that the process will not be triggered “at this stage”. The UK, Germany and France already had informal talks on how the UK government will be preparing for the exit.

Triggering Article 50 “is clearly what our partners want us to do, although not all of them believe that we have to do it immediately,” Cameron said. “That is why I think we have some time to examine the right model we want to negotiate for and then pull that trigger.”

“We need to determine what kind of relationship we want with the EU, and that is rightly something for the next prime minister and their cabinet to decide. This is our sovereign decision and it will be for Britain, and Britain alone, to decide.”

Cameron insisted that it would not be right to trigger Article 50 because that starts a process that within two years “has to result in an exit and it might be an unmanaged exit if it started too soon”.