A look at issues now that Britain has started to leave EU

It was personally hand-delivered to Mr Tusk by the UK’s permanent representative to the EU, Sir Tim Barrow, just moments before the Prime Minister addressed MPs in the House of Commons on her negotiation plans.

“Today the government acts on the democratic will of the British people”.

In a press conference in Brussels, Mr Tusk sent a message to the UK: “We already miss you”.

Instead, Verhofstadt thinks it’s likely there will be an extended transition period of “I don’t know, two, three, four years – we say no more than three years – to discuss, to detail the content of this future relationship”.

This comes nine months after Britons voted in a national referendum last June in which “leave” won by nearly 52-percent to “stay” at 48 percent.

And the European Parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt said: “Security is far too important to start to bargain it against an economic agreement”. “From now on, only the interests of the remaining 440 million Europeans count for us”.

May has pledged that Britain will leave the EU’s single market, which allows member nations to trade with each other without restrictions.

The government has indicated that Britain could make contributions to the European Union budget to ensure trade access.

“I think the market had been expecting the triggering of Article 50 since way back past year, so I don’t think there was any surprise”.

May backed away from that notion Wednesday, saying in her letter that both sides should “work hard to avoid that outcome”.

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in London, March 29, 2017.

It’s also a major blow to the European Union, after decades of expansion, to lose one of its largest members.

It is even more tumultuous for Britain.

USA carmaker Ford, Britain’s biggest automotive engine-maker, low-priced airline Ryanair and German media group Bertlesmann issued warnings as Britain began two years of formal European Union talks.

The European Council president added: “As for now nothing has changed”. In Northern Ireland, rival parties are embroiled in a major political crisis and Sinn Fein nationalists are demanding a vote on leaving the UK and uniting with the Republic of Ireland. Money is a big issue – the United Kingdom has been a major financial contributor to EU Indeed, the anti-EU campaign bus last June produced a defining image of the referendum campaign, depicting 350 million pounds ($434 million) a week of UK taxpayers’ money heading to EU.

Setting out Britain’s negotiating position in her letter, she made clear she wants a new trade deal to be negotiated at the same time as the “divorce deal” extricating the United Kingdom from its 44-year membership.

European Union negotiators, determined to avoid giving Britain such a sweet deal that Brexit could encourage imitators, want to avoid moving quickly to cutting special agreements on certain sectors – though they acknowledge that is likely to happen eventually.

He will respond within 48 hours.

European Union officials are due to circulate draft negotiating guidelines within days, and bloc leaders – minus May – will meet April 29 to adopt a common position. French president, François Hollande said Brexit, “will be painful for the British”, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned of “uncertain times ahead”, while Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas said, “We can not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by Brexit”.