Britain, EU at odds over timing of divorce talks

LONDON – The European Union wants a quickie divorce, but Britain wants time to think things over.

Senior EU politicians demanded Saturday that the U.K. quickly cut its ties with the 28-nation bloc – a process Britain says won’t begin for several months – as the political and economic shockwaves from the U.K.’s vote to leave reverberated around the world.

“There is a certain urgency … so that we don’t have a period of uncertainty, with financial consequences, political consequences,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said at a meeting in Berlin of the EU’s six founding nations.

EU Commission Chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned the split was “not an amicable divorce” but noted it was never “a tight love affair anyway.”

Britons voted 52 to 48 percent Thursday in favor of ending their country’s 43-year membership.

But no country has ever left the EU before. And Britain must, at some point, notify the bloc of its intentions and set a two-year clock ticking for negotiating its departure. Until then, Britain remains an EU member.

In contrast to the clamoring of EU officials, the leaders of Britain’s “leave” campaign, who had reassured voters the EU would offer Britain good terms for a new relationship, were largely silent Saturday.

England’s 300-year-old union with Scotland could be another casualty of the referendum, since most people in Scotland voted to remain in the EU but were outvoted by a majority in much-larger England.

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon said Saturday that her semi-autonomous administration would seek immediate talks with EU nations and institutions to ensure that Scotland could remain in the bloc.

She said a new referendum on Scottish independence is “very much on the table.”

Scotland voted in 2014 to remain a part of the U.K., but that decision was seen as being conditional on the U.K. staying in the EU.

The victorious “leave” campaigners have said there’s no rush to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which will begin a two-year exit process.

Top diplomats from the European Union’s six founding nations – France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg – met in Berlin for hastily arranged talks.

“There must be clarity,” Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn told reporters. “The people have spoken and we need to implement this decision.”

France’s Ayrault suggested Britain could name a new prime minister within “several days” – but that is likely instead to take several months.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel struck a conciliatory note, saying it “shouldn’t take forever” for Britain to deliver its formal notification of leaving.

Britain will remain an EU member until the divorce is finalized, but its influence inside the bloc is already waning. Leaders of the bloc will hold a summit in Brussels next week, and the second day, Wednesday, will take place for the first time without Britain.

On Saturday, Britain’s representative on the EU’s executive commission, Jonathan Hill, stepped down, saying he was disappointed by the referendum result but “what’s done cannot be undone.”

Juncker transferred Hill’s portfolio of overseeing financial services to Latvian Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis – costing Britain a key voice in a sector that is hugely important to London, whose status as Europe’s financial capital is threatened by Britain’s EU exit.