Triggering Article 50
Katrina Cooper
Immigration Expert providing strategic & innovative solutions to support the movement of talent globally | Head of Immigration EMEA
Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon has today been triggered by the government serving as the formal notification of the United Kingdom’s intention to withdraw from the European Union. Theresa May triggered the official process in a letter to the EU which was delivered by Sir Tim Barrow to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, this afternoon in Brussels.
Key themes from Ms May’s letter to Mr Tusk included:
- Engaging with one another constructively and respectfully
- Putting citizens of both the UK and the EU first
- Working towards securing a comprehensive agreement and working together to minimise disruption
- Paying particular attention to the Republic of Ireland which is the only land border that the UK has with an EU member state
The letter also makes clear that the UK does not seek membership of the single market and that the EU position that the four freedoms of the single market are indivisible and that there can be no “cherry-picking” is understood and respected.
As previously advised, there will be no immediate changes to the immigration rules regarding EU nationals currently living and residing in the UK, nor conversely for those UK nationals currently living and residing in the EU.
The final Article 50 agreement will need to be agreed by the EU member states, the UK and the European Parliament. Any EU Treaties will continue to apply to the UK until such agreements enter into force or until the two year period of negotiations has ended. Should there be no agreement by this two year mark, it may be that a request for an extension of negotiations is put in place by unanimous agreement of all EU member states.
We would also like to remind you to register for our next live webinar in our ‘Beyond Brexit’ series called “Beyond Brexit – what’s the deal?” on 27th April 2017 at 10am GMT, using the link below:
Our industry experts will be discussing what we can expect from the two year Brexit negotiations and what sort of deal we may be heading toward. Please do also visit our dedicated Brexit site www.pwc.co.uk/brexit where you can access our podcasts, webcasts, blogs and various other materials to help guide and support you during this period.
Please do not hesitate to contact me our global immigration team for further details.