British Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Britain's withdrawal from the European Union under Article 50 of the EU treaty on March 29.
The country should be out in two years. Here is a timeline:
The Article 50 letter:
March 25 - The other 27 EU leaders meet in Rome to mark 60 years since the bloc's founding treaty. To avoid spoiling the party, May will wait till next week to file Britain's divorce notice.
March 29 - May will write to European Council President Donald Tusk to trigger the withdrawal process.
Summit, guidelines, recommendations:
March 29-31 - Within 48 hours, Tusk sends to the 27 other member states his draft negotiating guidelines.
May 4 (tentative) - Tusk needs about four weeks to prepare a summit he will chair of the 27 to agree final guidelines and mandate the EU executive's Michel Barnier to negotiate. With Easter on April 16, the first round of French presidential voting on April 23, public holidays on May 1 and the French runoff on May 7, May 4 is a possible date.
May 5 - Barnier will quickly reply to leaders with his detailed recommendations of how to structure talks.
Directives:
May - Ministers in the EU's normally low-key General Affairs Council will be called, again excluding Britain, to agree legal "negotiating directives" that will bind Barnier and his team.
Face-to-face:
After nearly a year of phoney war since the June 23 referendum vote to quit, British negotiators led by Brexit Secretary David Davis will sit down with the EU, possibly still in May.
The divorce deal:
December 2017 - Brussels wants a basic deal on a Withdrawal Treaty by year's end. Key issues: the exit bill for Britain's outstanding commitments; treatment of British and EU expats; dealing with outstanding EU legal cases; new border rules.
Transitions to future relationship:
2018 - May wants to negotiate a comprehensive free trade deal. Few see two years as enough time to agree one and Brussels wants to hold off starting talks until after a divorce deal.
October 2018 - Barnier's target to finalise Withdrawal Treaty, to give time for ratification by the European Parliament and a majority in the European Council by March 2019.
Autumn 2018 to Spring 2019 - Just to make things complicated, Scottish government wants independence vote once Brexit deal is clear.
B-Day:
March 30, 2019 (tentative) - Britain leaves. At any rate, it should do so two years after May writes. It happens to be a non-working day, a Saturday. And avoids April Fool's Day, April 1.
Britain could leave earlier if it gets a deal, and the deadline can be extended if all agree. But Brussels wants Britain out before EU elections in May 2019.
A period of transition:
May and EU leaders say transitional arrangements may well be needed, and many see another two to five years after Brexit for a final settlement.
If Scotland votes for independence, expect more years to negotiate its split from London and possible re-entry to the EU.
