Britain's European Commissioner Jonathan Hill announced Saturday that he will stand down following his country's decision to leave the EU, saying he was "very disappointed" but "what is done cannot be undone." EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Hill's position as financial services chief would be taken by Valdis Dombrovskis, the commission vice president for the euro, but that he was open to taking a new British commissioner.
"As we move to a new phase, I don't believe it is right that I should carry on as the British Commissioner as though nothing had happened," said a statement by Hill, a former member of Britain's House of Lords. "In line with what I discussed with the President of the Commission some weeks ago, I have therefore told him that I shall stand down," he said.
Hill's appointment in 2014 to the important financial services job was seen as an olive branch to a eurosceptic British government, due to the importance of the City of London financial centre to the British and European economy. "Like many people here and in the UK, I am obviously very disappointed about the result of the referendum," he said. Hill said he had come to Brussels despite being "sceptical about Europe" but had become convinced that "despite its frustrations" membership benefited Britain. "But what is done cannot be undone and now we have to get on with making our new relationship with Europe work as well as possible," he added.