BRUSSELS — European Union leaders vowed Saturday to stand shoulder-to-shoulder behind their negotiating team during the divorce proceedings with Britain and warned that demands from British Prime Minister Theresa May will be dealt with “firmly.”
The 27 EU leaders in Brussels finalized the cornerstones of their negotiating stance within four minutes of starting a short smooth summit, a month after the British leader triggered two years of exit talks on March 29. The negotiations themselves are to open shortly after Britain holds an early election on June 8.
“We now have unanimous support from all the 27 member states and the EU institutions, giving us a strong political mandate for these negotiations” under chief negotiator Michel Barnier, EU Council President Donald Tusk said.
Tusk said there can’t be any discussions on the future relationship between the EU and Britain until there has been major headway on key issues.
“We must first achieve sufficient progress on citizens’ rights, finances and the border issue in Ireland. It is too early to speculate on when this might happen,” Tusk said Saturday.
He said the 27 leaders would unanimously have to say there was “sufficient progress” to allow the talks to go to the next phase. That would give any EU country with a dispute with Britain, such as Spain over Gibraltar, major influence over the timetable of the talks.
The negotiating guidelines also halted British hopes of having future trade relations being discussed concurrently through the talks.
“Before discussing the future, we have to sort out our past. We will handle it with genuine care — but firmly,” Tusk said.
Some at the summit were already considering how to deal with possible British negotiating tactics.
“Maybe the British government will do its utmost to split the 27 nations. It is a trap we need to avoid,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said.
Ever since the June 23 referendum last year in which Britons narrowly voted to leave the bloc, the unity of the remaining 27 EU nations “has been really exemplary,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
In contrast, citizens in Britain have been divided because of the momentous changes looming.
