English is losing importance in Europe - European Commission president

The president of European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker has said "English is losing importance in Europe" as he accused the UK of "abandoning" the EU.

The senior Brussels bureaucrat made the mocking remark during a conference speech delivered in French after UK Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon advised that Brexit talks would be easier if commission officials "kept their views to themselves".

Speaking in the Italian city of Florence, Mr Juncker joked: "I will express myself in French because, slowly but surely, English is losing importance in Europe."

He described Brexit as "a tragedy", explaining: "Now growth in the EU is twice that in the US and I feel we can be reassured as far as the immediate future is concerned.
"And at that point - despite the success, despite the growth - our British friends decided to leave the EU, which is a tragedy.

"We shouldn't under-estimate the importance of the decision made by the British people. It is no small event.

"Of course we will negotiate with our British friends in full transparency, but there should be no doubt whatsoever that it is not the EU which is abandoning the UK, it is the opposite - they are abandoning the EU.

"And this is a difference which will be felt over the next few years."

Deputy chief EU Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein, when asked if Mr Juncker's English remark would be constructive, later told a press briefing: "You are familiar with the way he speaks and that he does sometimes make light-hearted remarks.
"I don't think one needs to extrapolate from that and reach dramatic conclusions."