Can Brexit be finished in two years?

After more than 10 months of posturing and speculation from both sides, Britain has formally invoked Article 50 of the EU treaty – triggering at least two years of talks and, ultimately, its departure from the union.

This puts both sides into uncharted territory: no member state has ever left the European Union before.

EU leaders gathered in Malta on Thursday to flesh out their strategy for the talks ahead.

EU President Donald Tusk is expected to present his draft Brexit negotiating guidelines on Friday.

British Prime Minister Theresa May says she wants the initial negotiations to include both the United Kingdom’s exit from the bloc and its future trading relationship.

But some within the EU disagree, saying the future Britain-EU relationship cannot be discussed until the terms of the exit are settled.

And all of this has to happen in a two-year timeframe that looks increasingly difficult to accomplish.

So can Brexit actually be negotiated in just two years? What happens if it can’t?

Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault

Guests:

Steven Peers – Law Professor, University of Essex

Maria Demertzis – Deputy Director, Bruegel, a Brussels-based think-tank

Steve Keen – Head of the School of Economics, History & Politics, Kingston University London