The Council of the EU has announced that the Council, meeting in an EU27 format, has adopted a decision authorizing the opening of Brexit negotiations with the UK and formally nominating the Commission as EU negotiator. The Council also adopted the negotiating directives for the talks, which provide for a phased approach ({News-2017-05-05/A/5- previous coverage}). The Commission will now need to agree with the UK on the dates for the first negotiating sessions, with the first formal meeting between the EU and the UK negotiators likely to take place in June.