This triggered Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union, which defines the procedure for the withdrawal of an EU member state, thus opening a two-year countdown to withdrawal. The EU and the UK have reached an agreement on the withdrawal agreement with a revised protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland (abolition of the “backstop”) and a revised political declaration. On the same day, the European Council (Article 50) approved these texts. After the deadlock in the British Parliament, Prime Minister May resigned and the new leader of the Conservative party, Boris Johnson, took over as Prime Minister. The Council, in its EU-27 format, was informed of the state of Brexit by the EU`s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, due to the intensification of negotiations with the UK ahead of the European Council (Article 50) of 17 October 2019 in order to reach an agreement (Article 50). EU-27 heads of state and government will meet on 10 April 2019 to discuss the latest developments on Brexit. Faced with the rejection of the withdrawal agreement by the House of Commons, I have decided to convene a European Council on 10 April,” confirmed President Donald Tusk on 29 March, after the vote in the House of Commons. EU-27 leaders have approved the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement and approved a draft political declaration on future EU-UK relations. With regard to the UK`s intention to withdraw from the EU, the European Council adopted a decision extending the article 50 period, paragraph 3. The extension is until 31 January 2020 to have more time to ratify the withdrawal agreement.

The draft withdrawal agreement reflects the December 2017 joint report by EU and UK government negotiators on the first phase of legal negotiations. It also proposes, on the basis of the EU`s positions, a text on other withdrawal issues mentioned in the joint report, which are not yet agreed upon. Finally, the text on the transitional period will be integrated on the basis of the supplementary negotiating directives (Article 50) adopted by the Council on 29 January 2018 (Article 50). After the document was signed in Brussels, it was brought to Downing Street by EU and British officials to be signed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which expires on Friday. The agreement will then return to Brussels, and a copy of that convention will remain in London. The UK`s official withdrawal from the EU came into force on 31 January 2020 (withdrawal date) at 11pm. On that date, the withdrawal period under Article 50 of the TUE ended and the ratified withdrawal agreement, which sets out the legal conditions for the UK`s withdrawal, came into force. The ratified withdrawal agreement was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on the day of the withdrawal, along with the political statement on the framework of future relations between the UK and the EU: “I think a brief extension will be possible, but it will depend on a favourable vote on the withdrawal agreement in the House of Commons,” said the President of the European Council. Donald Tusk, March 20. “We cannot give up looking for a positive solution until the last moment,” Tusk added. His statement followed a request by British Prime Minister Theresa May to delay Brexit until 30 June 2019. The United Kingdom left the European Union at midnight (Northern European time) on 31 January 2020 when the withdrawal agreement came into force.

The declaration on the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom, also known as the Political Declaration, is a non-binding declaration, negotiated and signed at the same time as the mandatory and broader withdrawal agreement on the uk`s withdrawal from the European Union (EU), known as Brexit, and the planned end of the transition period.