European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker(photo: AFP)

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker Friday described Brexit as a “tragedy” that had happened partly as a result of the European Union’s past mistakes.

In a speech in Florence, the head of the EU’s executive arm warned of tough negotiations to come but also struck a more conciliatory tone after the first round of contacts on a Brexit deal degenerated into a cross-Channel war of words. He said that the UK has decided to leave and it is not the EU abandoning the UK. Britons are abandoning the EU and this is a difference of status that must and will be felt over the next few years, Junker said. He acknowledged that in the past, the EU has done a little too much, even the Commission: too many rules, too much interference in the daily lives of our citizens.

In another development, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on fair and constructive negotiations on Brexit to maintain good relationship among countries.