Brexit officially begins – Theresa May activates Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty

British Prime Minister Theresa May has activated Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, thereby officially initiating the two-year procedure of the United Kingdom's exiting the European Union.

May informed the British Parliament that her letter had been handed over to the EU Council President Donald Tusk, officially notifying him that the United Kingdom has decided to leave the European Union after more than 40 years.

– Today the Government acts on the democratic will of the British People. And it acts, too, on the clear and convincing position of this House. A few minutes ago in Brussels, the United Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the EU handed a letter to the President of the European Council on my behalf, confirming the Government’s decision to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back. Britain is leaving the European Union. We are going to make our own decisions and our own laws – May said.

She wants a clean break with the EU, which means leaving the single European market, in order for Britain to be able to control the immigration from other EU member-states, which was one of the main reasons for Brexit. Freedom of movement is one of the main EU acquis.

Tusk will send draft guidelines on the negotiations to the leaders of all EU members within 48 hours. He will present his position in Malta, where he is to take part in the European People's Party Congress. The guidelines need to be approved by heads of the 27 EU states at the summit to be held in Brussels on April 29. The main negotiator on the European side will be Michel Barnier (France), whereas David Davis will represent Great Britain.

The negotiations will start once the member-states have formally approved the negotiation mandate, nearly a year after the referendum in which the people of Great Britain chose to leave the EU with a 52% vote.

The European Commission wants a framework agreement on Britain's leaving to be reached by the end of the year. The most important questions are how much London will have to pay in order to meet its obligations towards the EU, estimated at EUR 55 to 60 billion, the status of 1.4 million British citizens in the EU and 3.3 million of citizens of other member-states living in the UK, the unresolved legal disputes with the EU and a new border regime.

May wants to reach an all-encompassing free trade agreement with the EU, but very few believe that this can be done in only two years. Furthermore, the EC doesn't want to negotiate about this before an agreement on Britain's leaving the EU has been reached. London and some other member-states might ask for those two lines of negotiations to be carried out parallel to each other. Most diplomats expect some kind of compromise to be reached to that end.

The United Kingdom should step out of the European Union on March 29, 2019, exactly two years after the sending of the letter invoking Article 50.

Theresa May

European Union

Brexit

Lisbon Treaty

Donald Tusk

European Commission

European Council

Michel Barnier

David Davis