New York Post :
Britain has officially begun the process of leaving the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday.
European Council President Donald Tusk has received the hand-delivered letter from British Ambassador to the EU, Tim Barrow, that triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and formally starts the Brexit process.
“The Article 50 process is now under way and in accordance with the wishes of the British people, the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union,” May told lawmakers in the House of Commons.
May noted, “This is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back,” adding, “Now is the time for us to come together.” The prime minister said that Britain will be the “best friend and neighbor to our European partners” following Brexit. Both sides now have two years – until March 2019 – to agree on a new relationship.
British citizens voted to leave the 28-country bloc that make up the EU on June 23 of last year.
Those who voted to leave the bloc were in celebratory mood.
“In my opinion, this is the greatest moment in modern British history,” said Brendan Chilton, general secretary of the pro-Brexit group Labour Leave. “We are finally beginning the process by which we leave the European Union, restore our Parliament and once again become a sovereign nation.” For the “remain” campaigners, it was time to fight for a divorce settlement that preserves what they see as key benefits of EU membership, including free trade in goods and services and the right to live and work anywhere in the bloc.
“The phony war is over,” said Joe Carberry, co-director of the pro-EU pressure group
Open Britain. He said Britain had decided that it would leave the bloc – but “the issue of how we will leave, and the democratic checks and balances along the process of the negotiations, remains unresolved.”
The loss of a major member is destabilizing for the EU, which is fighting to contain a tide of nationalist and populist sentiment and faces unprecedented antipathy from President Trump.
Britain has officially begun the process of leaving the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday.
European Council President Donald Tusk has received the hand-delivered letter from British Ambassador to the EU, Tim Barrow, that triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and formally starts the Brexit process.
“The Article 50 process is now under way and in accordance with the wishes of the British people, the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union,” May told lawmakers in the House of Commons.
May noted, “This is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back,” adding, “Now is the time for us to come together.” The prime minister said that Britain will be the “best friend and neighbor to our European partners” following Brexit. Both sides now have two years – until March 2019 – to agree on a new relationship.
British citizens voted to leave the 28-country bloc that make up the EU on June 23 of last year.
Those who voted to leave the bloc were in celebratory mood.
“In my opinion, this is the greatest moment in modern British history,” said Brendan Chilton, general secretary of the pro-Brexit group Labour Leave. “We are finally beginning the process by which we leave the European Union, restore our Parliament and once again become a sovereign nation.” For the “remain” campaigners, it was time to fight for a divorce settlement that preserves what they see as key benefits of EU membership, including free trade in goods and services and the right to live and work anywhere in the bloc.
“The phony war is over,” said Joe Carberry, co-director of the pro-EU pressure group
Open Britain. He said Britain had decided that it would leave the bloc – but “the issue of how we will leave, and the democratic checks and balances along the process of the negotiations, remains unresolved.”
The loss of a major member is destabilizing for the EU, which is fighting to contain a tide of nationalist and populist sentiment and faces unprecedented antipathy from President Trump.
