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| - Here are the milestones in the rocky process of Brexit, from Britain's shock vote to leave the European Union in 2016, to fraught ongoing talks on a future trade relationship. In a June 23, 2016 referendum that followed decades of arguments over Europe, Britons vote by 52 percent to 48 percent to become the first nation to leave the EU bloc. Conservative leader David Cameron, who led the campaign to remain in the EU and called the vote expecting to win, resigns as prime minister the next day. He is replaced by Theresa May, the interior minister who also backed remaining in the EU. May formally triggers the exit process on March 29, 2017, sending a notification letter to Brussels that gives Britain until March 29, 2019, to leave. Ending more than a year of acrimonious talks, British and EU negotiators on November 13, 2018, reach a draft divorce deal. But May faces an angry backlash from her own Conservative party over its terms. More ardent Brexit supporters believe the proposed deal could leave Britain interminably trapped in EU trade rules. On January 15, 2019, British MPs vote against the deal in the biggest government defeat in British parliamentary history, the first of three rejections. Brussels refuses to re-negotiate. The EU agrees to delay Brexit until May 22 and then until October 31, 2019. It means Britain is obliged to organise European Parliament elections on May 23, which are won by the newly-formed Brexit Party of anti-EU populist Nigel Farage. The European election defeat and parliament's rejection of her Brexit deal forces May to step down as Conservative leader on June 7. On July 23, party members choose Brexit figurehead Boris Johnson as their new leader. He becomes prime minister the next day. On October 22, British MPs approve in principle a new Brexit deal struck days earlier with the EU. On October 28, EU members agree to postpone Brexit for up to January 31, 2020. Johnson's resounding win at a December 12 snap general election smoothes his Brexit bill's passage through parliament on January 9, 2020. Queen Elizabeth II gives her formal assent for Britain to leave the EU on January 23. The ratification process is completed by the European Parliament on January 29. The divorce takes place on Friday, January 31. An extendable transition period, during which much in the relationship will not change, has been agreed up to December 31, 2020. In March 2020, the EU and Britain set out on difficult negotiations on their future trade relationship, which are then broken off due to the coronavirus crisis. Talks resume in April, without any notable progress on a free trade accord, stalling over fisheries and conditions for fair competition. On June 12, Britain officially says it does not wish to extend its transition period beyond the end of the year. In July, Britain and the EU agree to intensify talks with a view to meeting an October deadline for an accord, if the European and British parliaments are to have time to ratify it by the year end. On September 8, the two sides open an eighth round of negotiations amid tensions as Johnson warns that if there is no compromise by October 15 he will walk away with no deal. To the EU's dismay, the British government the next day submits a bill to overwrite parts of the withdrawal agreement. Faced with this "breach" of international law, the EU is set Thursday to hold an emergency meeting as it seeks clarifications from London. bur-kd/jmy/phz/bp
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