The divorce proceedings have begun. At midday on Wednesday 29 March, the British ambassador to the EU, Tim Barrow, gave the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, the letter in which the United Kingdom activates Article 50 of the EU Treaty to formally request withdrawal from the European Union.
The six-page letter has been awaited since the results of the 23 June 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU (see EUROPE 11580). It was signed on the evening of the preceding...