BRITAIN may not leave the European Union for at least three years - because of delays caused by next year’s German and French elections.
Theresa May may delay activating Article 50 due to German elections next year
Senior sources have warned Prime Minister Theresa May may postpone her activation of Article 50, which will spark two years of formal negotiations before Britain officially withdraws form the 28-country bloc, until the end of next year.
The PM was expected to kick-start the process in just five months. Her postponement is set to infuriate Leave voters who expected a prompt start to proceedings.
A City of London source said next year’s parliamentary elections in Germany and France, set to take place next September and May respectively, is expected to delay Mrs May’s decision.
He said: “You can’t negotiate when you don’t know who you’re negotiating with.”
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A member of the Prime Minister’s cabinet also conceded the German election, in which German Chancellor Angela Merkel will attempt to regain her CDU / CSU party’s 41.5 per cent vote share, posed “some challenges”.
There are also fears Mrs May’s new Brexit and international trade teams will not be ready for Article 50 to be activated in January 2017.
One source confirmed: “Ministers are now thinking the trigger could be delayed to autumn 2017.
“They don’t have the infrastructure for the people they need to hire. They say they don’t even know the right questions to ask when they finally begin bargaining with Europe.”
Another said: “I’m not sure they are going to be ready. There is an issue about these preliminary talks. No-one even seems to know what the substance will be.”
David Davis, the Brexit secretary, and Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, are making slow progress at assembling their new teams.
Mr Davis has hired less than half of his 250 required staff members. Mr Fox is putting together a team of 1,000 people but has so fare hired just 100.
Regarding a potential delay to triggering Article 50, a spokesman for Mrs May said it was still a “top priority”.
He said: “The Prime Minister has been clear that a top priority for this government is to deliver the decision of the British people to leave the ERu and to make a success of Brexit.
“The PM has set out the government’s position on Article 50 and has established a new department dedicated to taking forward the negotiations.”
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/699799/brexit-delayed-german-french-elections-angela-merkel-eu-referendum?
