Following a June 2016 referendum where British voters decided to withdraw from the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May officially began the formal “Brexit” process on Wednesday.
A letter written by May was delivered to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, officially triggering Article 50 of the European Union treaty and the Brexit process. In the letter, May outlines why the decision to leave the 28-member union was necessary:
As I have said before, that decision was no rejection of the values we share as fellow Europeans. Nor was it an attempt to do harm to the European Union or any of the remaining member states. On the contrary, the United Kingdom wants the European Union to succeed and prosper. Instead, the referendum was a vote to restore, as we see it, our national self-determination.
“Today, the government acts on the democratic will of the British people,” explained May in a speech to the House of Commons. “This is a historic moment from which there can be no turning back. The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union.”
The delivery of the letter Wednesday does not immediately withdraw the United Kingdom from the European body. Instead, it begins a two-year process where the specifics of the U.K.’s exit will be deliberated. The BBC explains the complexity of the process and the reason for the drawn-out time frame:
Unpicking 43 years of treaties and agreements covering thousands of different subjects was never going to be a straightforward task. It is further complicated by the fact that it has never been done before and negotiators will, to some extent, be making it up as they go along.
Upon receiving May’s letter, President Tusk opened the European Council’s session by declaring there is “no reason to pretend today is a happy day.” At a press conference in Brussels, he added, “We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye.”
“There is nothing to win in this process and I am talking about both sides. In essence, this is about damage control,” Tusk said while discussing the withdrawal process.
Although much of Europe was in a somber mood Wednesday, former leader of the U.K. Independence Party and “Bad Boy of Brexit” Nigel Farage struck a celebratory tone in his remarks to the BBC. When asked how he was feeling Wednesday morning, Farage exclaimed:
“Thrilled, because I know that at 12:30 today, we passed the point of no return. There will be lots of arguments and debates over the next two years, but we are leaving, so I couldn’t be happier.”
“Well, I should go have a pint of something and think to myself that after 25 years of slug, perhaps it was all worth it,” Farage added.
Source:ijr.com