Editorial Board

How the EU's Leaders Should Think About Brexit

Enlightened self-interest can strengthen the European project.

In or out, it's a European asset.

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

Europe's leaders are gathering in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava on Friday for an unusually significant summit. Their subject: the future of a European Union that will no longer include the United Kingdom.

This first big meeting of the EU without Britain should have two main goals. First, governments need a plan for dealing with the secessionists. Second, they need a plan for reforming the union. In both cases the aim should be to ensure that, in the end, Britain's departure strengthens the European project.