MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Tuesday’s summit of EU leaders is the right time for London to start proceedings to leave the European Union, the European Parliament's President Martin Schulz said Sunday.
"Hesitation only for the sake of accommodating tactics of the British Conservative party will hurt everyone," Schulz told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
The EU Parliament chief warned that UK’s dragging feet on the EU pullout would lead to "more uncertainty and puts jobs at risk."
"That is why we expect the British government to decide now. The upcoming summit on Tuesday is therefore the right time," Schulz noted.
To begin the proceedings, the UK government must invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty in an official letter or a declaration to the European Council, which is due to meet in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday he would stand down by the Conservative party congress in October and leave the task of exiting the European Union to the new leadership.
