The UK's invocation of Article 50 formally initiated the legal process of withdrawing from the European Union, leading to exit on 31 January 2020.
Key Facts
- Date of invocation
- 29 March 2017
- 2016 referendum result
- 52% voted in favour of withdrawal
- Letter delivered by
- Tim Barrow, UK Permanent Representative to the EU
- Letter received by
- Donald Tusk, President of the European Council
- UK's actual EU exit date
- 31 January 2020 at 23:00 GMT
- Authorising legislation
- EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
A UK referendum held in June 2016 returned a 52% vote in favour of leaving the EU. Prime Minister Theresa May announced in October 2016 that Article 50 would be invoked by the first quarter of 2017. A Supreme Court ruling in January 2017 required Parliament to pass authorising legislation before the process could begin, which it did with the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017.
On 29 March 2017, Tim Barrow, the UK's Permanent Representative to the EU, hand-delivered a letter signed by Prime Minister Theresa May to European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels. The letter formally notified the EU of the UK's intention to withdraw from both the EU and Euratom, triggering the two-year negotiation period under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.
The initial withdrawal deadline of 29 March 2019 was extended multiple times due to parliamentary difficulties in ratifying a withdrawal agreement. After further extensions and negotiations, a withdrawal agreement was ratified by both parties in January 2020, and the UK formally left the EU at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020, entering a transition period thereafter.