EU leaders say Britain will stay member for now

Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, celebrates with his supporters in London on June 24. Britain voted to leave the European Union after a bitterly divisive referendum campaign, according to tallies of official results on Friday. AP

LONDON—European Union leaders say that Britain will remain a member of the bloc until its exit negotiations are concluded, which probably means at least two years longer.

The leaders of the EU’s institutions said Friday that “until this process of negotiations is over, the United Kingdom remains a member of the European Union, with all the rights and obligations that derive from this.”

They said in a statement that under the bloc’s treaties “EU law continues to apply to the full to and in the United Kingdom until it is no longer a member.”

The statement was signed by European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Parliament President Martin Schulz and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.