Britain will soon regret voting for Brexit, but the European Union will move on, the European Commission president has insisted.
In a speech setting out the future direction of the bloc, Jean-Claude Juncker said the UK's exit would be a "sad and tragic" moment, but it was "not the be all and end all".
Juncker evoked the Queen to describe how Brexit helped to make 2016 an "annus horribilis" for the European project.
But during the annual state of the EU address which ranged over areas as diverse as the quality of fish fingers to plans to create a super-presidency role, Brexit was given a notably short slot near the end.
Juncker said: "This will be a very sad and tragic moment in our history. We will always regret this, and I think that you will regret it as well, soon.
"Nonetheless we have to respect the will of the British people. But we are going to make progress. We will move on because Brexit isn't everything, it's not the future of everything, it's not the be all and end all."
In a letter circulated as he made his speech, Juncker said the past 12 months had been "challenging" for Europe.
He wrote: "2016 was in many ways an 'annus horribilis' for the European project. From the Brexit referendum, to the terrorist attacks, to slow growth and continued high unemployment in several of our member states, to the ongoing migration crisis, Europe was challenged in many ways."
Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage described Juncker's address as "the most open, honest and truly worrying" speech he had heard in his time as a member of the European Parliament.
"The message is very clear," Farage said. "Brexit has happened, full steam ahead."
Farage went further: "All I can say is, 'Thank God we're leaving'.
"You have learned nothing from Brexit. If you had given (David) Cameron concessions, particularly on immigration, the Brexit vote - I have to admit - would never, ever have happened.
"And yet the lesson you take is that you are going to centralise and move on to this very worrying, undemocratic union."
