BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union governments agreed a common Brexit negotiating plan on Monday and renewed their insistence that they would not open talks on a post-Brexit trade deal until London agrees to settle what it owes the Union.
Ministers from the 27 other EU states met in Brussels to sign off on a common strategy and mandate the EU executive, in the form of chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, to launch talks on their behalf after Britain's June 8 election. The strategy and mandate were adopted unanimously, officials said.
Several ministers stressed their priorities are to provide legal clarity for EU citizens in Britain before they find themselves living outside the EU in March 2019 and to agree how to calculate what London owes Brussels before departure.
The Union's leaders agreed last month on a phased structure of talks, under which the free trade agreement which British Prime Minister Theresa May wants with the EU would only be discussed after a first phase of talks makes "significant progress" on issues such as citizens' rights and the budget.
"It's clear that in this matter, on the finance issue, if we get stuck then we will not get on to Phase Two, what should come afterwards between the European Union and Great Britain," Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said on arrival.
His Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders told reporters: "It's very British to know that if you're part of a club and then you leave you have to settle your accounts."
May and her Conservative government have said they will meet their obligations but challenge the idea that Britain might have to pay tens of billions of euros to the EU to cover its share of existing financial commitments. Britain wants to launch talks on a future trading relationship as soon as possible.
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Barnier has said that the two-stage approach, by which trade talks could start early next year, is needed to avoid confusion.
Several ministers stressed the unity among the 27. Some, including Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, said the other net contributor countries must pay no more into the EU budget after Britain left.
Germany's European Affairs Minister Michael Roth underlined the need to get started to contain the damage from what he said was a "lose-lose situation" for both Britain and the EU.
"We have two years. The clock is ticking," Roth told reporters. "We have to get down to work."
(Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; @macdonaldrtr; editing by Richard Lough)