EU vows unity as Britain braces for Brexit

London: With the clock ticking on Britain's EU membership, the bloc's leadership vows unity while in London the government begins the arduous task of disentangling itself from Brussels.

"This is a moment to unite," European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday, hours after Britain formally started procedures to end its 44-year membership of the EU.

With just two years foreseen for negotiations, Juncker said the rights of EU citizens will be top of the agenda. 

Settling Britain's exit bill, estimated by the Commission to be 60 billion euros ($64 billion, £52 billion), will also be a priority when talks get underway, expected mid- to late-May.

But even before the negotiations start, Britain on Thursday will begin the monumental task of incorporating EU legislation once the divorce is finalised.

Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Theresa May said that was important "so that on the day we leave everybody knows those rules still apply and everybody knows where they stand".

The government will publish a "white paper" policy document on Thursday outlining its plans for the legal overhaul, which for better or worse will give MPs the opportunity to amend the laws as they are brought under the national system.

Meanwhile Juncker will meet in Malta with EU President Donald Tusk, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.Tusk bid farewell to Britain on Wednesday, after receiving the British government's divorce letter triggering Article 50 of the EU`s Lisbon Treaty -- the exit clause.

"We already miss you," he said. Merkel called for "fair and constructive" negotiations, while dismissing Britain`s wish to have exit negotiations run concurrently with talks on its future relationship with the EU.

Britain has until October 2018 at the latest to come up with a draft divorce plan, according to the Commission`s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

While May asserted in January that "no deal is better than a bad deal", in her Brexit letter she adopted a more conciliatory tone and called for Britain and the EU to "work hard" to avoid failure in the negotiations.