[JURIST] UK Prime Minister Theresa May [official website] on Saturday denied [Mirror report] EU President Donald Tusk‘s [EU profile] report that May intends to begin Article 50 [text] proceedings by February. Article 50 [Mirror backgrounder] is the portion of the EU Constitution governing procedures for nations seeking to leave the Union, and is the next step in UK’s withdrawal. Speaking at a summit in Bratislava, Slovakia, Tusk stated [press release], “Prime Minister May was very open and honest with me. She declared that it’s almost impossible to trigger Article 50 this year but it’s quite likely that they will be ready maybe in January, maybe in February next year.” May’s administration asserts that Tusk’s statements were an interpretation of the leaders’ more broad discussion on the topic that contained no dates.

A majority of British citizens voted to leave [JURIST report] the EU in June. Concern over the economic health of Britain [Reuters report] going into the future led to a global market plunge following the vote, as the pound fell as far as ten percent against the US dollar; a low not seen since 1985. While the vote has fallen in favor of departure, no legal changes have taken place yet [Guardian report] as Britain must take further steps to confirm its separation. However, Britain’s leading public-interest law firm, as well as several experienced litigators, are currently drafting [JURIST report] a legal challenge to trigger a parliamentary debate. Under Article 50, a member country can only be removed from the EU two years after notification. While Britain might bypass this process through repeal of the European Communities Act of 1972, it is believed that this would make coming to a preferential trade agreement with the EU more difficult.