The UK Process of Leaving the EU

On 23 June 2016, people in the UK and in Gibraltar cast their vote on the United Kingdom European Union Membership Referendum , also known as the EU Referendum or the Brexit Referendum . Asked to decide whether the country should remain a member of, or leave the European Union, 51.89% of those who took part in the vote chose to leave. Although legally the referendum was non-binding, the UK government of that time, led by Prime Minister David Cameron, had promised to implement the result. The official EU withdrawal process, commonly known as ‘ Brexit’ was initiated on 29 March 2017. The complex process is based on the never before used Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU). Brexit was originally due to happen on 29 March 2019, i.e. two years after then Prime Minister May triggered the formal process to leave and kicked off negotiations with the European Union.