EU to Make UK Wait After Triggering Article 50

The European Union signaled its intention to keep Theresa May waiting before engaging in negotiations over the U.K.’s exit from the bloc, in an early indication of how the British prime minister will see leverage slipping away as soon as she files for divorce.

As EU leaders insisted they are fully prepared for the Brexit talks, they arranged a summit to agree on the outlines of their negotiating position for April 29. They canceled provisional plans to hold it three weeks earlier, indicating May’s announcement on Monday that she will invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on March 29 came too late. It means that one month of the U.K.’s two-year negotiating window will pass before the EU even discusses its initial response.

“We must do everything we can to make the process of divorce the least painful for the EU,” EU President Donald Tusk told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday as he announced the summit date. “Our main priority for the negotiations must be to create as much certainty and clarity as possible for all citizens, companies and member states that will be negatively affected by Brexit.”

Bloomberg

USD/CAD – Canadian Dollar Edges Higher Ahead of Canadian Retail Sales

EUR/USD – Euro Hits 1.08 after French Election Debate

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.