March 29 is pencilled in as the day British Prime Minister Theresa May is to set Brexit in motion.
A full 246 days after Britain voted to leave the European Union in the historic referendum, she will write to European Council President Donald Tusk to officially inform him that she is invoking article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon.
The clause in the treaty sets out the procedure for a member state to depart the EU.
Like a separation before a divorce, the article gives Britain and the other EU states two years to thrash out their relationship and finances before the UK emerges from Brexit as a sovereign state on March 30, 2019.
May will invoke the article by writing a formal notice that Britain intends to leave the EU, but she claims the letter will mean much more.
Open and global nation
The document will ‘set the tone for our new relationship with Europe and the world,’ she said.
The letter will be a “historic event” which will see Britain start a “bold new chapter as a prosperous, open and global nation.”
Her intention is and independent and cosmopolitan Britain, but EU politicians have pledged to look for the right deal for Europe and not to give an inch in negotiations.
Tusk will respond to May with a formal letter accepting the country’s decision to leave the EU with regret.
“As you all know, I personally wish the UK hadn’t chosen to leave the EU, but most British voters decided otherwise,” he said.
Delay before talks start
“Therefore, we must do everything we can to make the process of divorce the least painful for the EU.
“Our main priority for the negotiations must be to create as much certainty and clarity as possible for all citizens, companies and member states that will be negatively affected by Brexit, as well as our important partners and friends around the world.”
After pressing the Brexit button, May will have to wait more than a month to start talking with Tusk and his team.
In April, EU state leaders will meet to agree their Brexit strategy and on May 7, France will go to the polls for a general election. Negotiations are not expected to start until after the election is finalised.
On the early agenda are rights for expats living in other EU states and how much, if anything, Britain should pay as a divorce settlement towards debts.
