The 27 European Union heads of state gathered in Brussels on Friday for an informal leaders' summit. This is the third such meeting without the UK as the bloc tries to chart its post-Brexit future. CGTN's Mariam Zaidi reports.

The European Union has stood united in the face of the UK's impending divorce from the bloc. But at an informal summit on Friday in Brussels where discussions centered around the post-Brexit shape of the EU, a few cracks appeared. The European Parliament had been pushing for institutional support for 'Spitzenkandidat', the so-called lead candidate process ahead of its 2019 elections. It allows the party with the most seats to install their chosen candidate as president of the European Commission.

EMMANUEL MACRON FRENCH PRESIDENT "There can be no automaticity of the nomination of a Spitzenkandidat by any party."

A tweet by the Lithuanian president further showed support was lacking. And later confirmed by EU Council President Donald Tusk.

DONALD TUSK, PRESIDENT EUROPEAN COUNCIL "The idea that the Spitzenkandidat process is somehow more democratic is wrong. The treaty says the president of the EU Commission should be proposed by the democratically elected leaders of the member states and then he or she should be elected by the democratically elected members of the EU parliament."

Less controversial than expected were EU plans for spending starting in 2021. With Brexit on the horizon, the bloc needs to plug a 10 to 15 billion euro shortfall in its long-term budget. So cuts were needed.

JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER EU COMMISSION PRESIDENT "If we do not decrease the budgets for cohesion and the Agricultural policy - which together represents 70 percent of the overall EU budget -- then we will need to decrease other policies by 45%."

More than a dozen leaders expressed support for greater financial contributions to make up for the loss of revenue after Brexit.

MARIAM ZAIDI BRUSSELS "EU leaders did agree to spend more on fighting illegal migration, on defense and security and youth programs. But EU Council President Donald Tusk added that any final agreement on the multi-year budget was unlikely to come this year. Mariam Zaidi, CGTN, Brussels."