British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street after the cabinet meeting in London, Britain on March 29, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May and her most senior ministers gathered in the Cabinet room at 10 Downing Street Wednesday at the start of one of the most historic days in generations for Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan)
LONDON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Britain on Wednesday officially started the historic process to leave the European Union (EU) as the letter signed by Prime Minister Theresa May is sent to leaders of the bloc.
It is "an historic moment from which there can be no turning back," May told the House of Commons. "We will be after a bold and ambitious free trade agreement with the EU."
May addressed a packed House of Commons at Westminster as the Ambassador to the EU Sir Tim Barrow personally handed the letter to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, Wednesday noon. It starts a two-year period of negotiations on a future relationship between Britain and the EU.
Giving official notice under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the letter triggered the Brexit process officially.
"That decision was no rejection of the values we share as fellow Europeans," the letter reads. "The UK wants the EU to succeed and prosper."
The move came nearly nine months after the British voted for Brexit by a margin of 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent in a referendum last summer.
By triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, Britain and the EU is expected to have a two-year process in which the terms of exit will be negotiated. Unless both sides agree to extend the deadline for talks, Britain will leave on March 2019.
Article 50 refers to the formal procedure by which an EU member state notifies the European Council that it intends to leave the bloc.
This sets the clock running, and allows two years for Britain and the EU to discuss exit arrangements. After that, an exit happens, whether matters are settled or not.
But if Britain's departure from the EU takes place without a formal agreement or a transitional arrangement, there could be negative implications for British trade and services with the EU, and for EU services and trade with Britain.
In her statement in the Commons, May told MPs that the official start of Brexit marks "the moment for the country to come together."
Britain's pursuit of Brexit came as huge uncertainties loom over the country which joined the EU 44 years ago.
After the referendum vote on June 23, 2016 to leave the EU, making Britain the first nation in the 28-member bloc to do so, Britain's path to exit and beyond has been unclear.
The full effects of Brexit on Britain's trading relations may not be resolved for a further two decades, British economist and writer Martin Wolf told Xinhua. In an assessment of the complex road ahead for Britain as it creates new economic and trade ties, Wolf warned that exit from the EU was merely the first step on the journey.
"We will be making up a new trade policy which will probably take us 20 years," said Wolf, who is the associate editor of the London-based daily newspaper the Financial Times and also its chief economics commentator.
One of the leading forces behind the successful Brexit campaign Matthew Elliott told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview: "Brexit means leaving the single market and leaving the customs union," which he described as "a full one."
Elliott was the chief executive of the Vote Leave campaign, one of the two main groups which successfully campaigned for an exit vote in last year's referendum.
Jonathan Warburton, a London-based banker for a French bank who takes the Eurostar, a high-speed railway service connecting London with several major European cities, every other week, thinks Brexit won't affect his travel unduly.
"The bank might shift about 5 percent of its staff over, but London's the hub, and where the talent is," said the banker when he was interviewed by Xinhua at London's St. Pancras Terminal where cross English Channel Eurostar trains commute.
However, in the London City, where nearly 300 international banks have branches, sense of uncertainties could be easily felt.
Cremeut Labit, a French who works at the London City, told Xinhua that he felt regretted for the Brexit. "There is going to be the uncertainty period," he said. "We need to be cautious before taking every step."
The day was celebrated by advocates for Brexit. Former UK Indepedent Party leader Nigel Farage tweeted that "the impossible dream is happening. Today we pass the point of no return."
