Brexit: Your simple guide to the UK leaving the EU

What is Brexit?

Brexit is short for "British exit" - and is the word people use to talk about the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU (European Union).

What is the EU?

The EU is a political and economic union of 28 countries which trade with each other and allow citizens to move easily between the countries to live and work (click here if you want to see the full list).
The UK joined the EU, then known as the EEC (European Economic Community), in 1973.

Why is the UK leaving?

A public vote - called a referendum - was held on Thursday 23 June 2016 when voters were asked just one question - whether the UK should leave or remain in the European Union.
The Leave side won by nearly 52% to 48% - 17.4m votes to 16.1m - but the exit didn't happen straight away. It's due to take place on 29 March 2019.

What does the withdrawal agreement say?

The withdrawal agreement covers some of these key points:

• How much money the UK will have to pay the EU in order to break the partnership - that's about £39bn
• What will happen to UK citizens living elsewhere in the EU, and equally, what will happen to EU citizens living in the UK
• How to avoid the return of a physical border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland when it becomes the frontier between the UK and the EU

A length of time, called the transition period, has been agreed to allow the UK and EU to make a trade deal and to give businesses the time to adjust.

That means that if the withdrawal agreement gets the green light, there will be no huge changes between 29 March 2019 and 31 December 2020.

So will the UK definitely leave on 29 March 2019?

It is written into law that the UK will be leaving on that date at 11pm UK time.
But it is impossible to say with any certainty what will happen next.
The deadline of 29 March could be extended - and the European Court of Justice has said the UK could even cancel Brexit altogether without the agreement of other nations.

What happens if the UK leaves without a deal?

"No deal" means the UK would have failed to agree a withdrawal agreement.

That would mean there would be no transition period after 29 March 2019, and EU laws would stop applying to the UK immediately.

Credit: BBC