Brexit talks: Cameron insists any decision must be taken by his successor

UK Prime Minister David Cameron is adamant that any decision on the European Union’s future relationship with the United Kingdom is taken by his successor, set to be elected in September.

The informal talks on Brexit started at 7.30pm, where Cameron briefed the 27 leaders over the UK referendum result. It was also expected that Cameron informs the EU whether Britain planned on renouncing its Presidency of the European Council, scheduled for July 2017.

The UK Presidency would follow Malta’s, and – assuming that Britain would renounce its turn – discussions would then follow on which member state would step in. One of the options would also include Malta extending its own Presidency, although the Maltese government has already expressed its preference that Estonia steps in six months earlier than scheduled.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said Malta was however not excluding anything, including the option that Malta and Estonia do a nine-month long Presidency instead of six months.

Malta forms part of the trio which includes the Netherlands and Slovakia; joining in a new trio would essentially mean stepping into the negotiations of the other trio.

“Cameron is asking that no decision is taken before there is a new prime minister, including the decision on the UK Presidency,” informed sources said.

The announcement did not go down well with the majority of the EU leaders, who have accused the UK of creating "unnecessary uncertainty".

There was convergence among the EU leaders that the UK needed its time to plan properly, accepting that for negotiations to take place, both sides need to know where they’re heading to.

“The UK has no idea at this stage what sort of relationship it wants with the EU,” Muscat said, at the end of the dinner at around 11pm.

Cameron informed leaders that studies have started in London, analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the different options that the UK could go for.

“But the UK needs these two/three months to make up its mind on what it wants,” Muscat said, reiterating that the UK could not be given access to the Single Market without the four freedoms.