Article 50 triggered – What happens next

March 29^th
Article 50 is officially invoked – Brexit process begins
Unless both sides agree on an extension, the UK and the EU have two years to agree a divorce deal before the bloc’s treaties cease to apply to Britain.

March 30st
Brexit secretary David Davis has unveiled the government’s Great Repeal Bill
The bill will bring all EU laws onto the UK books, converting all EU requirements into British law as soon as Britain exits the bloc, which gives Parliament the power to absorb parts of EU legislation into UK law and scrap elements it does not want to keep.

March 31st
Remaining 27 EU countries will send their guidelines for negotiations
The other 27 EU countries will send their guidelines for the negotiations to the European Council in Brussels, which’ll then draw them together in one draft document and presented by President of European Council Donald Tusk.

April 29^th
EU 27 summit.
Deadline for the remaining 27 EU countries to agree on and prepare a joint document outlining what the EU will be seeking in the negotiations. The 27 heads of state will convene in Brussels on this date to approve the final details of what they want and do not want for Brexit.

Immediately after the summit Indications of future relationship between the EU and the UK
The European Commission will publish its negotiation guidelines. The institution will use the document to negotiate with the UK government, given that it is the Union’s main negotiator. The guidelines may give a first indications of what a future relationship between the EU and the UK might look like.

23 April / 7 May 2017
French Presidential Election

May/June Official negotiations between the EU council and the UK government begin
Even with the guidelines ready from both the EU and the UK, the actual Brexit talks have not yet begun. The green light for that will only come from the EU’s foreign affairs ministers. At the moment, foreign affairs ministers have meetings scheduled for 16th of May and 20th of June. They could however schedule an emergency meeting between those dates to approve the kicking off of the talks.

September 24^th
German Federal Election
No later than 23 May 2018
Italian General Election

October 2018 – March 2019
Vote on Brexit deal
With a Brexit deal drawn up, the Houses of Parliament, European Council and European Parliament will vote on the terms of the deal, paving the way for an agreement or an extension on the negotiating period.

April 2019
UK departure from the EU should be complete

How long will it take for Britain to leave the EU?
Article 50 is triggered and the UK have two years to negotiate its withdrawal. But no one really knows how the Brexit process will work – Article 50 was only created in late 2009 and it has never been used. Former Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, now Chancellor, wanted Britain to remain in the EU, and he has suggested it could take up to six years for the UK to complete exit negotiations. The terms of Britain’s exit will have to be agreed by 27 national parliaments, a process which could take some years, he has argued.

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