Off the wire
• Zambia nabs 55 foreigners for illegal stays  • Roundup: India vows to ensure safety, security of foreigners  • 1st Ld-Writethru: CPC Central Committee calls to institutionalize education campaign  • Britain issues new 1-pound coin to combat counterfeiting  • German pharmaceutics trader opens regional hub in Serbia  • Chinese premier calls for closer innovation cooperation with New Zealand  • Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, March 28  • Analysis: Only 56 minutes of actual playing time in Bundesliga matches  • 2nd int'l conference on Africa's emergence opens in Cote d'Ivoire  • Thai Airways Int'l launches direct flights on Beijing-Phuket route  
You are here: 　 Home

Spotlight: May prepares to send EU exit letter to Brussels

Xinhua, March 28, 2017 Adjust font size:

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday braces herself to trigger what she has described as one of the most important historic events in British history.

She will dispatch a letter to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, formally telling him that Britain is exiting the European bloc.

May is reported to have told her cabinet of ministers in a Downing Street meeting last week that her long-awaited note to Tusk would be a substantial statement of Britain's intentions after Brexit and set the tone for the country's new relationship with Europe and the world.

After sending her letter, May will make a statement to members of parliament in the House of Commons as she paves the way for her next move.

Downing Street confirmed Tuesday that May will make a speech in the chamber at the end of her weekly 30-minute Prime Minister's Questions.

Tusk is expected to respond quite quickly to May, acknowledging receipt of her letter, but it will be April 29 when the leaders of the remaining 27 EU member states hold a special session to debate Brexit.

A day later May's government will publish a white paper setting out details of a proposed Great Repeal Bill. This bill will absorb into British law the thousands of pieces of legislation agreed by the EU during the past years of the country's membership of the bloc.

Article 50 is a requirement under the EU's Treaty of Lisbon, setting out the process for a member state to leave. Once Article 50 is triggered, it kick-starts a two-year process for talks on a future relationship between the EU and the departing member.

That would mean Britain provisionally expected to complete its exit on March 29, 2019. But political experts have that time limit could be extended by mutual consent.

The final deal laying out Britain's new relationship with the EU will have to be okayed by the 27 member states.

The triggering of Article 50 came after Britain voted in a referendum to leave the EU by a margin of 52 to 48, with more than 33 million people voting, the biggest turnout in history in Britain.

The day after the June 23 vote result was announced, then shocked prime minister David Cameron resigned, and was succeeded just a few days later by his then home secretary Theresa May.

Although May had supported Britain remaining a member of the EU, she said: "Brexit means Brexit."

Pro-EU politicians from across the political spectrum attempted measures aimed at reversing the decision, with calls for a second vote. But May stood firm, backed by her Brexit Secretary David Davis.

Addressing her cabinet at Downing Street earlier, May said the triggering of Article 50 on Wednesday would open a bold new chapter for Britain as a prosperous, open and global nation. Endit