Stockholm: Britain will not trigger its divorce from the EU at a Brussels summit on March 9 and 10, its Brexit minister said Tuesday, adding that the government is aiming for the end of March instead.
Asked about the possibility that Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon could be invoked at the EU summit, David Davis replied it would be too early.
"The 9th or 10th is not a date I recognise in terms of our timetable. What we have said is the end of March, by the end of March," he told a news conference in Stockholm.
The government is still waiting for the upper house of parliament, the House of Lords, to pass the bill giving Prime Minister Theresa May the authority to trigger the exit from EU.
The lower house of parliament did that on February 9.
"I expect it to be resolved in good time before the end of March," Davis said.
"So I'm confident we'll do it before our timetable."
The minister also said he was confident the two-year deadline for negotiations would be respected.
"We want in two years to come to a conclusion on this matter. We have said that we may have some implementation things to do after that, but we think in two years both are possible," he said.
In a June 23 referendum, 52 percent of British voters decided to leave the EU.
