Brexit to be triggered March 29

IMPACT – HIGH

The U.K. government has announced that March 29 is the date it will officially notify the EU of its intention to withdraw from the EU. The U.K. will formally invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, setting off a two-year negotiation period before the final separation in 2019.

Key dates:

• March 29, 2017: Prime Minister Theresa May will invoke Article 50.
• March 31, 2017: EU Council President Donald Tusk will present the other 27 EU member states with draft guidelines for Brexit negotiations.
• April 2017: An EU summit is set to be called for 27 member states to approve guidelines and authorize the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, to begin talks.
• May 2017: Brexit negotiations likely to begin between the EU and U.K.
• Fall 2017: The U.K. government will likely introduce the “Great Repeal Bill” to repeal all EU laws and replace them with national British laws.
• September 30, 2018: Barnier’s deadline for finalizing terms of the U.K.’s exit from the EU.
• March 29, 2019: Two-year deadline for concluding Brexit negotiations under European law protocols.
• April 2019 (TBD): The U.K.’s exit from the EU, following ratification of Brexit by all other member states.

BAL Analysis: Theresa May is expected to deliver a short statement to parliament shortly after invoking Article 50, in which she is likely to reiterate her key objectives in the negotiations, which include controlling migration outside of the free movement directive for new arrivals and securing reciprocal rights of U.K. citizens currently in Europe against European citizens currently in the U.K. May is under some pressure to resolve the status of the 3.2 million Europeans in the U.K. within the first few months of negotiations, but it remains to be seen if this is possible.

BAL will be holding a webinar Thursday, March 23, on “Making Sense of Brexit and Tier 2 Skilled Worker Reforms for UK Employers,” where we will discuss the impact of Brexit and other immigration changes affecting companies that rely on EU and non-EU workers.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group in the United Kingdom. For additional information, please contact uk@bal.com.

Copyright © 2017 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries please contact copyright@bal.com.