Mark April Fool’s Day of 2019 in your diary. By this point, the UK will have left the EU.

Prime minister Theresa May announced today that the government will trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which starts the negotiation process for a country’s exit from the EU, by the end of March 2017. Once this is invoked, a country has up to two years to discuss and agree on the terms of its departure with the 27 other member states.

Where the UK now stands on free-movement rules and trading relationships will be one of the key sticking points. Various EU leaders and member states have already warned Britain against “cherry-picking” its terms of the deal, noting that the country can’t have full access to the single market without also allowing for full freedom of movement. Full Story

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