MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The United Kingdom will launch the formal Brexit negotiations on June 19 when UK Brexit secretary David Davis would meet with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, local media reported on Friday.
In April, Preben Aamann, spokesman of European Council President Donald Tusk, told RIA Novosti that the EU directives on the Brexit talks would be ready on May 22, which would allow the member states to start the talks.
The meeting between Davis and Barnier is expected to be held in the recently-opened Europa building in Brussels, The Guardian reported.
The European Union reportedly wants to divide the talks into four-week cycles with each of them focusing on a specific issue.
The first week will involve political preparations, the second one – the disclosure of the relevant documents, the third one – negotiations between Davis and Barnier and the fourth one – Barnier’s report on the result of the talks to 27 EU member states and the European parliament.
On March 29, the United Kingdom triggered the EU withdrawal process by handing a formal letter to Tusk. According to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the United Kingdom now has two years to complete the negotiations, and must leave the European Union on March 29, 2019.
