The British government will send a letter to the European Council on March 29, saying the country intends to leave the European Union (EU).
英国政府将于本月29日致函欧洲理事会,说明英国退出欧盟的意愿。
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said last Monday the letter will trigger Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon, formally starting the country's exit from the EU.
英国首相特蕾莎·梅的发言人上周一表示,这封信函将触发《里斯本条约》第50条,正式启动英国的脱欧进程。
If all goes according to the two year negotiations allowed for in the official timetable, Brexit should happen in March 2019.
如果一切按照官方时间表允许的两年谈判展开,英国应该于2019年3月脱离欧盟。
The spokesman said that Britain's Ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow informed the European Council earlier on Monday of the date that Article 50 would be triggered.
该发言人表示,英国驻欧盟大使蒂姆·巴罗已于当天早些时候通知欧洲理事会第50条的触发日期。
The BBC's Ben Wright said he expected the Article 50 letter to be short, possibly extending to two pages at most, and for Mrs May to use it to publicly reiterate her general objectives - such as leaving the single market but reaching a mutually beneficial agreement on trade and other issues.
BBC的本·赖特指出,他预计这封信函会是简短的,可能最多两页。而特蕾莎·梅首相会用它向公众重述她的总体目标--例如,离开单一市场但会就贸易和其它问题与欧盟达成新的互利协议。
Britons voted to leave the EU by 52% to 48% in a referendum on June 23, 2016.
在去年6月23日举行的公投中,英国民众以52%对48%的投票结果决定脱欧。