THE LONG GOOD BYE.
Prime Minister Theresa May officially launched the Brexit process, triggering Article 50 and started a two-year countdown before the country exits the European Union. The historic moment was encapsulated in a letter sent to the Brussels office of European Council President Donald Tusk, notifying him of the UK’s intention to leave.
The 27 EU member states and the UK will now begin an arduous process of negotiation to decide how they can disentangle their existing relations, while May must push a complex legislative programme through Parliament.
Given the scale of the task, UK diplomats and officials privately admit that negotiating and ratifying a trade deal will take longer than the two years allotted for the Article 50 exit process but say the parameters of a deal could be settled.
The EU’s draft negotiating text says that the “future partnership” could be part of the Article 50 process once “sufficient progress” had been made on settling an exit bill on citizens’ rights and on the Northern Ireland peace process.
According to Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s foreign minister, finalising an agreement might take time. “Both sides must recognise that an agreement on a wide-ranging partnership will be quite a laborious endeavour.”
Although some had expected May to adopt a hard line and leave the single market, her tone has been more conciliatory in the past weeks with the letter emphasising the phrase “deep and special partnership” seven times and “economic and security co-operation” four times.
In Parliament, the message was similar that Britain was going to leave the EU, but still wants to work closely with the other EU member states. Tusk reacted to the triggering of Article 50 at a press conference, where he held the letter in his hand and expressed his sadness.
May has also subtly adjusted her language in recent days to bring her stance more closely into alignment with the EU negotiating position, which states that no trade deal can be concluded until after the UK leaves.
She conceded that the UK might have to comply with Tusk’s demand that the EU’s “core principles”, including those relating to immigration, would have to apply during any transition period.
Speaking during a visit to Jordan, May said, “Once we’ve got the deal, once we’ve agreed what the new relationship will be for the future, it will be necessary for there to be a period of time when businesses and governments are adjusting systems and so forth, depending on the nature of the deal – but a period of time when that deal will be implemented.”
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