Most EU media report that Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will hold a meeting on the Italian island of Ventotene on August 22, three weeks before an informal EU summit in Bratislava which is to be held without Britain and is intended to map out a post-Brexit course for the European Union.

Il Sole 24 Ore and Handelsblatt comment that despite the fact that Matteo Renzi, Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel are gathering to discuss the future of Europe after Brexit, they will be thinking “above all” of their own domestic problems. In Corriere della Sera, former minister Paolo Cirino Pomicino warns that the Ventotene summit risks turning out to be “just a spot of sun-bathing” unless Matteo Renzi, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande “focus their attention on the immediate present”.

Meanwhile, according to Regina Krieger, writing in Handelsblatt, Mr Renzi sees Brexit as an opportunity for Italy to gain more political importance. De Standaard adds that Matteo Renzi is determined not to let Germany alone decide on the EU’s future. Mr Renzi wants to revive the EU after the Brexit. He feels that Mr Hollande does not offer any opposition to either Ms Merkel or President Juncker. Mr Renzi makes the case for a stronger social Europe, the Belgian daily notes.

Austrian and German media also report on Angela Merkel’s meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk yesterday, as part of preparations for the Brexit summit in Bratislava. Several media comment on the UK’s Brexit decision and its consequences for the European Union. According to Xinhuanet.com, the Commission said on Wednesday it would not get involved in current debates on Britain’s ties with the EU before London activates “Article 50”, the official trigger to kick off Britain’s divorce talks with the bloc.

In an interview with Latvijas Avīze, HOR Inna Šteinbuka says that Brexit is a big blow to all those who support the idea of Europe and for Europe in general. In an interview with the BNT, Commission Vice-President Georgieva comments on how the UK leaving the EU would affect the bloc’s budget. The UK’s net contribution was on average €5 billion a year, but whether it would be lost depends on the specific form of relations that the UK would chooses with the EU within the negotiation process.

In an op-ed published in El Mundo, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Flanagan comments on the importance of keeping strong and agreed links between the United Kingdom and the European Union and describes Ireland’s membership of the EU as “very fruitful” and “of national interest.”

In Berlingske, culture researcher Kasper Støvring writes that a revitalisation is needed to ensure the survival of Europe. Europe is faced with “a search for meaning” and must answer the question of how the EU will continue without Great Britain, Alexander Mühlauer comments in SZ.

In an interview with WirtchaftsWoche, professor of economics Alberto Alesina argues that “if countries with differing political preferences want to unite, they must coordinate aspects that are required for the functioning of a union, such as foreign policy, immigration policy and the creation of a common army.”

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