Prime Minister Theresa May took the first step towards Brexit on Wednesday by relinquishing Britain’s presidency of the European Council, ahead of her first meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Britain will no longer assume the six-month rotating presidency next July as planned, choosing instead to prioritise negotiations on implementing last month’s shock referendum vote to leave the European Union.
The decision was announced just hours before May, who took office one week ago, makes her first foreign trip with a visit to Berlin for a meeting and working dinner with Merkel.
She will then go to Paris on Thursday for talks with French President Francois Hollande, in a bid to forge a personal relationship with two leaders who will play a key role in developing Britain’s new relationship with the EU.
Officials said May will repeat her call for patience as her new government works out what it hopes to achieve after ending its 43-year-old membership with the bloc.
“I am determined that Britain will make a success of leaving the European Union and that’s why I have decided to visit Berlin and Paris so soon after taking office,” May said in a statement.
“I do not underestimate the challenge of negotiating our exit from the EU and I firmly believe that being able to talk frankly and openly about the issues we face will be an important part of a successful negotiation.
“I also want to deliver a very clear message about the importance we attach to our bilateral relationship with our European partners, not just now but also when we have left the EU.”
Key sticking points in the Brexit negotiations could be freedom of movement and the timetable for triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which starts the two-year countdown to Britain’s formal departure.
