EU leaders agree about guidelines for Britain’s split

BRUSSELS — The leaders of the European Union met Saturday in Brussels without Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain and unanimously endorsed guidelines to negotiate the end of more than four decades of British membership in the bloc.

The summit meeting is the first of its kind at which 27 leaders made a formal decision in a slimmed down format, minus Britain and May.

The leaders, including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Francois Hollande of France, backed a tough strategy on negotiating Britain’s exit, or Brexit. The idea is to force Britain to reach a deal on the terms of its divorce before starting talks on relations afterward.

“Obviously we will stand up for our interests as Britain too will stand up for its interests,” Merkel told a news conference after the summit. “We’re trying to forge a strong European Union of 27. This is the sort of spirit with which we approach these negotiations.”

One of the thorniest issues is getting Britain to guarantee that the 3 million citizens of other EU nations who are living in Britain and the 1.2 million Britons living in the European Union can maintain their residency rights and other entitlements.

Safeguarding citizens’ rights was “priority No. 1,” said Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, the body that represents the bloc’s leaders. “Today’s discussion made clear that when it comes to reaching a decision on citizens’ rights not only speed is of the essence but above all quality, as so many people’s lives depend on it.”

The leaders also called on Britain to meets its outstanding financial obligations so that other member states can avoid paying higher costs after the British withdrawal. The outstanding bill could amount to as much as 60 billion euros, about $65 billion. But British citizens and politicians are balking at paying such a large sum.

Another key issue: pushing Britain to maintain a free flow of trade and people between Northern Ireland, which will leave the bloc with Britain, and the Republic of Ireland, which will remain a full member of the European Union.

Britain also needs to abide by the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, including keeping the door open to the possible unification of Ireland.

In March, May formally started the two-year process of leaving the European Union, and the weekend gathering in Brussels is the consequence of that step, taken after a majority of the British electorate voted for Brexit 10 months ago.