European Council president Donald Tusk has this morning confirmed that the 27 leaders have agreed to allow talks to move on.
Wider issues such as trade and future relations with the Brussels bloc will now be negotiated by Theresa May and David Davis.
The Prime Minister last week made a breakthrough on the initial talks surrounding citizens' rights, the Irish border and the so-called divorce bill.
TWITTER
Mr Tusk praised Theresa May for her efforts in progressing the Brexit talks to the second phase.
Yesterday she was given a round of applause to acknowledge her efforts in pushing Brexit forward.
The UK will leave the EU by March 29, 2019, which was the date set when Mrs May triggered Article 50 earlier in the year.
Leaving the summit after midnight, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Mrs May had made a good case for them to declare talks had made "sufficient progress" to move on to their second phase.
But she added: "There remains much work to do and time is pressing."
“There remains much to be done and time is pressing”
Angela Merkel
But the leaders will not give the green light to an immediate move to trade talks on the kind of accelerated timetable Downing Street would prefer.
The text rubber-stamped by the EU27 promises only work towards a "framework" for a trade deal, with a wait until March before guidelines for the way ahead are produced.
The document leaves no doubt that a formal free trade agreement cannot be signed until after the UK has left.
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