- European Union officials and diplomats launched a round of confidential discussions this week to prepare a coordinated response to a possible British vote to leave the bloc next month, EU sources told Reuters on Wednesday, May 25, Reuters says.
Britain will hold a referendum on EU membership on June 23.
Senior diplomats from founding powers Germany and France, as well as several other countries, met on Monday for talks chaired by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's chief of staff, Martin Selmayr, several sources said.
One source with direct knowledge of Monday's discussion said it was intended to be followed by others on specific topics, Reuters says.
The Commission and representatives of those governments present at the meeting declined official comment. Britain, the EU's second biggest economy, was not present -- a situation its diplomats and ministers would rapidly have to get used to if Prime Minister David Cameron's "In" campaign loses.
EU institutions and Britain's 27 partner states have been at great pains to avoid discussing in public the possibility that Brexit could actually happen, for fear of fuelling a Leave vote. Many senior officials admit in private they have no clear idea how events might unfold on the morning after.
While officials have acknowledged that informal discussions have been going on to consider how to react to what would be a political earthquake felt across Europe, Monday's meeting was a first confirmation of a more formal planning process, Reuters says.
