Germany's top diplomat Sigmar Gabriel has cast doubt over UK Prime Minister May's plan to quit the EU and finalize a new trade deal within two years. Gabriel has said he wants Germany to maintain close ties with the UK.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Rousseau
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Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said during a state visit to London on Tuesday that Britain's departure from the European Union would be like any divorce: "Complicated at first, but smoother as things progress."
However, speaking alongside his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, Gabriel tried to temper the UK's expectations ahead of negotiations with the EU, calling Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit timetable "unrealistic."
Brexit: What lies ahead?
Britain has triggered EU Article 50, formally starting the process for the country to leave the 28-nation bloc. DW takes a look at some of the steps involved and the time required to strike an exit deal.
Image: Getty Images/J. Taylor
What is Article 50?
Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon gives any existing member of the European Union the right to quit unilaterally and outlines the procedure for doing so. It gives the state concerned two years to negotiate a deal for its exit. Once Article 50 is triggered, it cannot be stopped, except by the unanimous consent of all member states.
Image: Reuters/T. Melville
What does Article 50 actually say?
There are five elements in Article 50. They state that the exiting country must notify the European Council formally and that it is given a two-year period to reach an agreement. Article 50 also states that the country concerned cannot take part in EU’s internal discussions about its departure. The exit deal must be approved by a "qualified majority" and must also get the backing of MEPs.
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When will it be triggered?
The UK decided in favor of leaving the EU in a referendum in June 2016. After lengthy parliamentary debates and legal procedures, Prime Minister Theresa May looks all set to send a formal letter of notification to EU President Donald Tusk on March 29, which will trigger Article 50. Officials in Brussels have already outlined a divorce bill for Britain of between 55 and 60 billion euros.
Image: Reuters/Y. Herman
What happens after that?
The EU is expected to give a first response later this week. A summit of EU leaders on April 29 is then to lay down guidelines for the Brexit talks, which are expected to start in May or June. The hardest part of the negotiations will be determining the status of more than a million Britons living in other parts of the EU and of some 3 million EU citizens in Britain, and working out trade details.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/A. Vitvitsky/Sputnik
The Great Repeal Bill
By autumn this year, the UK government is expected to introduce legislation to leave the EU and put all existing EU laws into British law - the Great Repeal Bill. The possible move will annul the 1972 European Communities Act (ECA), which gives EU law instant effect in the UK, and give parliament the power to absorb parts of EU legislation into UK law, scrapping elements it does not want to keep.
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How long will the process last?
EU leaders have said they want to conclude the talks within 18 months to allow the terms of the exit to be ratified by UK and the European Parliaments as well as the EU states. If no agreement is reached in two years and no extension is agreed, the UK automatically leaves the EU and all existing agreements.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Rain
What if the UK changes its mind?
The fifth paragraph of Article 50 raises the possibility of a state wanting to rejoin the EU after having left it. This would be considered under Article 49.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS.com/J. Goodman
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May hopes to negotiate the UK's divorce from the EU and a future trade agreement with the bloc in tandem. Last week, EU Council President Donald Tusk said the bloc was open to trade discussions before the Brexit deadline, but stated that the two sides must make progress on Brexit before discussing a new trade deal.
"Having no deal is not the best idea for Britain and the European Union," he said. "But my personal opinion is that the burden for the Brits is higher than for the Europeans."
Johnson said that he was optimistic that Britain would reach a good deal with the remaining 27 member states, but also remained adamant that Britain would "more than survive" without an agreement.
Following talks with Johnson, Gabriel tweeted that, although negotiations might prove to be difficult, long-term, close cooperation between the UK and EU was a necessity.
Gabriel: Good deal possible, but not as good as membership
Germany's foreign minister also said he was optimistic that the two would reach a good deal that was fair for all parties. However, he stressed no agreement would offer Britain the same benefits of membership that it is relinquishing.
"No one should be left with the impression that the advantages of membership of the European Union can be used by people who are not members of the European Union," Gabriel said.
The EU's Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on Tuesday responded to the UK's angry reaction over Gibraltar after the bloc said last week that Spain would have a veto on extending any trade agreement to the overseas territory once the UK formally withdraws.
"Keep calm and negotiate," Barnier said to reporters in Luxembourg when asked what he would say to reassure London on the issue, playing on the popular British phrase that was used to motivate the populace during World War II.
Then when asked whether the territory located just off the Spanish south coast would remain under British sovereignty, Barnier said: "Legally speaking, Gibraltar will leave the European Union at the same time as the United Kingdom, that's what I can say."
On Sunday, former leader of the ruling Conservative Party Michael Howard said that May would "show the same resolve" as Margaret Thatcher did 35 years ago, when the then-Prime Minister declared war on Argentina after its forces invaded the Falkland Islands.
dm/jm (dpa, AP)
Gibraltar rock-steady against Brexit
The enclave's future has taken center stage recently in the wrangling over Britain's break from the European Union. The outpost wants to stay British but voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU.
Image: Getty Images/P. Blazquez Dominguez
"The Rock" looks to London
Britain has controlled the rocky speck of land for three centuries against Spain's wishes. But being in the EU has meant the border has been open to the unrestrained flow of workers, goods and money. Now, residents of "the Rock" on the southern tip of Spain have said they hoped for London's support as Prime Minister Theresa May's government negotiates the divorce.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
Keep calm and carry on
Gibraltar, which is barely twice the size of New York's Central Park and home to 32,000 people, has thrived economically under British rule and open trade with Spain. Its low corporate taxes, business-friendly regulation and links to the EU market since 1973 have attracted investment. Its inhabitants adopted a typically British stance on the Brexit row- keep calm and carry on.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
A distinctly British feel
Gibraltar has a strong flavour of Britishness, with pubs named "The Gibraltar Arms" or as in this picture "The Horseshoe". In last year's referendum, 96 percent of Gibraltarians voted to remain in the EU. Since then, pleas for a special deal that would allow Gibraltar to retain access to the EU single market have been blocked by Spain, which wants joint sovereignty of the territory.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
Hassle-free border
All citizens have to do to cross the border into Gibraltar for work is wave an identity card. People who depend on the border being open, are concerned: "We live in limbo; you hear one thing today and a different thing tomorrow, says a Spanish worker.
Image: Getty Images/P. Blazquez Dominguez
Monkey business
Barbary macaque monkeys lounge at the "Top of the Rock". Tourists can often be seen taking selfies with the Barbary macaques, the only free-roaming monkeys in Europe, that live on the promontory known as The Rock.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
Mediterranean flair
People walk along Main Street, the main pedestrian shopping street in the old city center. Nobody expects Gibraltar's border to be fully closed. But disruptions and queues - which already happen at times of diplomatic tensions between Britain and Spain - are a nightmare for workers and employers.
