Prime Minister Joseph has warned that a deep-seated political malaise inside European nations is presenting social democratic parties with a major challenge to address migration and the effects of the EU’s economic policies.

The ‘remaining’ 27 leaders of the European Union have entered period of reflection after convening for the first time without the presence of a British prime minister, as the relationship with the UK will now change fundamentally – if the country goes ahead with its rupture from the Union.

The seismic result of the UK’s referendum jolted the Brussels technocracy, whose angry reaction appears to have somewhat softened as they start a reflection on the future of the Union, and on the increasing dissatisfaction of Europeans at austerity measures and the democratic deficit inside the EU.

And for the left, a new challenge from ultra-nationalists and the hard right seeking to capitalise on the vacuum of political trust.

“The reasons are deeper than that and we should go back 30 or 40 years to see why people who voted in favour of the EU back in the 70s would now want to vote out,” Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said of the UK referendum’s vote.

“I think the vote was not against the EU and Europe, but a signal of political malaise that exists in the UK and other European countries.”

Speaking to MaltaToday, Muscat said that given the opportunity, disenfranchised people around the EU would say ‘no’ to anything. He cites a recent referendum in the Netherlands as an example, where the electorate voted down a treaty with Ukraine on what he said was the false premise that it would get Ukraine in the EU.

“This is not something that you can fix in a year or two. It’s been building up for years and we need to bridge that gap. We [socialists and democrats] need a reality check. As is the case of conservative forces, most of our parties are being perceived as elites; we have accused people concerned by immigration of being racist. I have very little respect for leaders of populist parties, but I want to engage with their voters,” Muscat said.

Muscat also argued that it was the poorer and most vulnerable citizens of society who felt that mainstream parties have lost their touch with them.

“A core issue is the economy and migration: these are two big challenges that we need to face, both economically and philosophically.”

With the UK on course to become “a third country” with the EU, Muscat admitted that, at the back of many leaders’ minds, the question existed whether Brexit will actually happen. He would not speculate on the scenario.

“The assumption we’re making is that the UK is leaving and, as so, it will be treated as a third country,” Muscat said.

He described David Cameron’s address to the European Council last night as “a heartfelt rendition” of what had happened in the UK. “We saw a leader who is European and really values Europe’s contribution and role within the UK. We saw a statesman who was not willing to talk his country down and he defended his country’s turf. I admire that.”

Muscat said the outgoing British Prime Minister admitted that he would have “loved” for his address to be broadcast live to the UK citizens. Ironic: that’s something that does not happen inside closed Council sessions, one of the many bugbears for transparency campaigners.