Prime Minister to trigger Article 50 on 29 March

21 Mar 2017

Prime Minister Theresa May is set to trigger Article 50 – the legal process that will mark the beginning of two years of EU exit talks – on Wednesday 29 March, it has been announced.

Downing Street stated that the Prime Minister intends to write a letter to Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, in which she will invoke Article 50. This letter is set to be delivered on the Wednesday.

The Prime Minister is expected to make a statement to the House of Commons after triggering Article 50, setting out her Brexit aims and priorities.

David Davis, Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, commented: ‘The government is clear in its aims: a deal that works for every nation and region of the UK and indeed for all of Europe – a new, positive partnership between the UK and our friends and allies in the EU.’

Meanwhile, a Downing Street spokesperson outlined the government’s desire for negotiations with the EU to begin ‘as soon as possible’, but also added that the government ‘fully appreciates it is right that the other 27 EU states have time to agree their position’.