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In an explosive start to a speech in Florence this morning the EU Commission chief was loudly applauded as he said he would deliver his remarks in French instead of English. He was cheered by the europhile audience as he laid into Britain over the Brexit vote before beginning his keynote address to a State of the Union conference in the Italian city.

Mr Juncker, who is known for his repeated gaffes, made the inflammatory remarks just hours after fellow eurocrat Donald Tusk took the high road and called for a reining in of rhetoric on both sides. The EU Commission chief began his speech by pointing out almost nobody speaks his native Luxembourgish, before saying: "I agitated between English and French but I will express myself in French.”

IG•GETTY Jean-Claude Juncker speaking in Florence today

EbS The remarks came hours after fellow eurocrat Donald Tusk called for calm

When the pro-EU audience erupted in loud applause, he continued that “slowly but surely English is losing importance in Europe”, prompting another deafening ovation. He concluded: “And in France we have elections on Sunday and I’d like them to understand what I’m saying about Europe and about nations." Later on in his speech Mr Juncker was, however, much more conciliatory about Brexit and described the UK’s decision to leave as a “tragedy”. He accused Britain of “abandoning” the European project but also admitted that the bloc’s deficiencies played a part in people supporting Brexit.

The top eurocrat made his remarks after talking up the eurozone’s recent economic progress, which has seen its struggling economies return to albeit modest levels of growth. Mr Juncker said: “Despite this success, despite the growth, our British friends decided to leave the EU which is a tragedy. We shouldn’t underestimate the importance of the decision made by the British people. “It’s no small event and of course we’ll negotiate with our British friends in full transparency. “But there should be no doubt that it isn’t the EU which is abandoning the UK, it is the opposite in fact they are abandoning the EU and this is a difference which will be felt over the next few years.” However, he admitted: “Europe does have some weaknesses which can partly explain the outcome of the referendum in the UK. “There are some weaknesses which we perhaps sometimes overlook. We’re maybe scared of the truth sometimes, the truth which may emerge on the horizon.”

Blair and Juncker: Together through the years Thu, August 31, 2017 Former Prime Minister, Tony Blair and President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker have always shared a friendly relationship over the years. Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 9 European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker (L) greets Former British prime minister Tony Blair upon his arrival for a meeting at the European Commission in Brussels