The United Kingdom will trigger article 50 of the Treaty on the EU between 11 and 31 March to activate the process of withdrawal from the EU, the British Secretary of State responsible for the matter, David Davis, said in Stockholm on Tuesday 14 February.
When asked about the possibility that article 50 of the Treaty would be invoked at the EU Summit to be held in Brussels on 9 and 10 March, Davies replied by saying that it would be too soon, AFP reports. “The 9th or the 10th (of March) are not dates that we are considering as regards our timetable. What we said was the end of March, by the end of March”, he said.
The British government is still waiting for the upper chamber of the Parliament, the House of Lords, to adopt the bill investing Prime Minister Theresa May with the powers to invoke the article. The House of Commons did this on 9 February (see EUROPE 11722).
“I anticipate that this will be sorted out in good time before the end of March”, Davies said. “I am therefore convinced that we will do so before (the deadline in) our timetable”. The Minister for Brexit also said that he was confident that the period of two years to run from that point onwards to complete the negotiations could be respected, despite the scale of the task as illustrated, for instance, by the recent reports of the committees of the European Parliament (see EUROPE 11723). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)