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The latest on the timing suggests May is keen to initiate the formal process of leaving the bloc well in advance of a self-imposed March 31 deadline. She cannot act before Parliament passes a bill giving her permission to do so, and that will happen very close to the summit.
The upper house is due to debate the draft law next week and may amend it, which could cause some delay. The timetable is for a final vote in the House of Lords on March 7 and the U.K. budget comes out March 8, making that an unlikely day for May to pull the trigger.
The fact that the government is planning to give the EU formal notice in early March helps damp speculation a move later in the month was more likely after Brexit Secretary David Davis said “9th, 10th is not a date I recognize in terms of our timetable.”
One of the government officials added that early March would also be an act of sensitive diplomacy given the celebrations planned for March 25 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which set the foundations for the union. [...]