14:57

Jean-Claude Juncker has said that taking David Cameron’s advice to stay out of the Brexit referendum campaign was one of his two major mistakes as European commission president.

During a press conference in Brussels, as the EU prepares to select Juncker’s replacement, the former prime minister of Luxembourg said his first error early in his tenure had been to react too late to Luxleaks scandal that revealed the scale of tax evasion in his country. He went on:

The second mistake I made was to listen too carefully to the British government - Cameron. Because the then prime minister asked me not to interfere not to intervene in the referendum campaign. It was a mistake not to intervene and not to interfere because we would have been the only ones to destroy the lies which were circulated around. I was wrong to be silent at an important moment.

Juncker’s comments come ahead of a summit of the 27 leaders of the EU in the Romanian town of Sibiu where the intention is to discuss the big strategic questions facing the EU over the next five years.

Brexit is unlikely to feature in the EU’s thinking at the summit but Juncker made a series of barbs about the state of British politics during a pre-summit press conference.

Echoing Theresa May, Juncker said the EU27 meeting had been due to take place after the UK’s departure. “Brexit means brexit - but Brexit hasn’t taken place yet,” Juncker said.

While switching to English from German, Juncker noted:

Everyone understands English. No one understands England - but everyone understands English.

Asked about the slipping of the timetable in talks over future relations in the case of the UK and Switzerland, Juncker told reporters:

I don’t get the impression that the UK is very accommodating in terms of deadlines.

The UK had been due to leave the EU on 29 March. Juncker added of the potential for the UK to remain in the bloc:

I don’t have fears, I don’t have hopes. I was saying the other day that by comparison to the British parliament the Egyptian sphinx are open books. Either they stay or they will leave. If they stay, they stay. If they leave, they leave.