Brussels, 22/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - The British prime minister, Theresa May, seems to have succeeded to buy herself a bit of time, during her visits to Berlin and Paris, to formally notify her European partners of the intention of her country to leave the European Union.
This notification, which is provided for by article 50 of the Treaties, is required to launch formal negotiations between the United Kingdom and its 27 partners. Meeting her in Paris on Thursday 21 July, the French President, François Hollande, agreed to give her the time she needs to identify the negotiation subjects.
He did, however, stress that sooner would be better, “in the common interest, of Europe, the UK, of our respective economies”. The real negotiations will not be able to start until the UK has formally notified its withdrawal, he stressed. Although he ruled out the idea of “pre-negotiations”, he was sympathetic to the need of the British authorities to prepare.
The day before, May was in Berlin to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel, where she achieved an identical outcome. Merkel also seems to have accepted the calendar favoured by the UK, which is currently not considering triggering article 50 before the end of the year. “It is in everybody's interests that (the United Kingdom) does not ask to leave until it has a clearly defined negotiating position”, stressed. “Proper preparations are important and so we will also wait” until London decides to make its move, she said. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)