New British premier Theresa May will travel to Berlin today on her first foreign visit since becoming Prime Minister a week ago.
She will hold talks with German chancellor Angela Merkel this evening then travel to France tomorrow for discussions with French president Francois Hollande.
May hopes that the informal face-to-face meetings will provide an opportunity to establish personal contacts while testing the mood around the negotiating process of extricating the UK from the EU.
"These visits will be an opportunity to forge a strong working relationship that we can build upon and which I hope to develop with more leaders across the European Union in the weeks and months ahead," said May.
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"I do not under-estimate the challenge of negotiating our exit from the EU and I firmly believe that being able to talk frankly and openly about the issues we face will be an important part of a successful negotiation.
"I also want to deliver a very clear message about the importance we attach to our bilateral relationship with our European partners, not just now but also when we have left the European Union.”
However Merkel and Hollande, while accepting that the UK needs time to both politically reorganise itself and structurally formulate a Brexit negotiation strategy following the surprise result last month, are unlikely to offer May any special treatment.
Both leaders are under domestic pressure ahead of tough elections next year and are expected to stick to the current EU mantra of no formal negotiations until Britain officially triggers the Article 50 exit process.
"I do not under-estimate the challenge of negotiating our exit from the EU and I firmly believe that being able to talk frankly and openly about the issues we face will be an important part of a successful negotiation," said May.
May has said that she will not trigger Article 50, until more preparations had taken place and not before the end of the year.
The new UK Prime Minister also announced that Britain would relinquish its upcoming EU Council Presidency in light of the referendum result.
The UK had been due to take up Presidency in the second half of 2017, but May's spokesperson said the premier had told European Council president Donald Tusk on Tuesday that she was dropping the UK's six month stint at the EU's helm so the country could focus on “prioritising the negotiations to leave the European Union".
No decision has been taken on who will replace the UK. However both Hungary and Belgium are said to be lobbying for the slot.
Scottish Labour MEP Catherine Stihler tweeted that although it was widely known that the UK would drop its presidency stint last week, "watching UK influence at an EU level slowly ebb away is tragic".
UK Liberal MEP Catherine Bearder said a huge opportunity to lead in Europe had been given up by the decision to gives up Britain's EU Presidency in 2017.