Britain gives formal Brexit notice to EU
A LITTLE more than nine months after British voters chose to break from the EU, the next big step was taken yesterday as Britain made a decisive – and probably irreversible – move towards leaving a partnership that has bound Britain to the continent for nearly half a century.
With the simple hand-off of a letter in Brussels, the British government became the first country to trigger Article 50 – the mechanism by which nations can exit the EU. The move instantly plunged both Britain and the 27 other EU nations into two years of what will almost certainly be acrimonious negotiations over the terms of divorce.
The talks will encompass an array of subjects, including trade terms, immigration rules, financial regulations and, of course, money. Britain joined the group that became the EU in 1973. So decades of ties, pacts and arrangements are part of the complicated unravelling.
In the six-page document delivered yesterday, British Prime Minister Theresa May called for parallel negotiations on not just divorce terms but a new trade pact and special deals in key sectors. She also made a veiled threat on security cooperation if talks break down.
“We should engage with one another constructively and respectfully, in a spirit of sincere cooperation,” May wrote.
She referred – twice – to London’s “obligations as a departing member state”, in a nod to Brussels’ demands that a “Brexit bill” be paid to cover outstanding commitments before Britain leaves.
She echoed the EU’s own language in acknowledging that there could be “no cherry-picking” to retain the best bits of EU membership and acknowledged that Britons doing business with the EU would have to abide by rules they no longer help to set.
In response, the other 27 governments said Britain could be a “close partner”: “We will approach these talks constructively and strive to find an agreement,” they said in a statement.
Britain could be forced to reorientate its economy – the world’s fifth largest – if it loses favourable terms with its biggest trade partner. It also may not survive the departure in one piece, with Scotland threatening to bolt.
The EU, which for decades has only expanded its integrative reach across a continent long divided, faces perhaps an even greater existential threat. If Britain is allowed to get a good deal, other countries that are already contemplating their own departures could speed toward the exits.
The British public stunned the world last June when it opted to leave, voting 52% to 48% in a referendum.
Although some legal experts believe that an Article 50 declaration is reversible, British and EU officials have both said it is not. – Washington Post and Reuters