Brexit negotiations

The Brexit negotiations cover the negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union leading up to Brexit, being the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, following the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum in June 2016.

The Brexit negotiating period began on 29 March 2017 when the United Kingdom served the withdrawal notice under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The period for negotiation stated in Article 50 is two years from notification, unless an extension is agreed.

Negotiations officially began on 19 June 2017 when British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis, arrived in Brussels to negotiate the Brexit terms with European Chief Negotiator for the United Kingdom Exiting the European Union, Michel Barnier.

According to the European parliament, "For the moment, it appears that the two sides have different views on the sequencing and scope of the negotiations, and notably the cross-over between the withdrawal agreement and the structure of future relations, and this divergence itself may be one of the first major challenges to overcome."

The Department for Exiting the European Union is responsible for overseeing the negotiations to leave the EU and for establishing the future relationship between the UK and EU.

The proposed principles were set out in the Article 50 notification:

The Prime Minister's formal letter of notification was delivered in Brussels on 29 March 2017. It included withdrawal from the European Atomic Energy Community. The letter recognized that consequences for the UK of leaving the EU included loss of influence over the rules that affect the European economy, and UK companies trading within the EU aligning with rules agreed by institutions of which the UK would no longer be part. It proposed agreeing to seven principles for the conduct of the withdrawal negotiation. These are for:

The constitutional lawyer and retired German Supreme Court judge Udo Di Fabio has stated that separate negotiations of the EU institutions with London, Scotland or Northern Ireland would constitute a violation of the Lisbon Treaty, according to which the integrity of a member country is explicitly put under protection.

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