Britain Begins Brexit Negotiations In Brussels

Britain kicks off its formal European Union exit talks Monday, nearly a year after the country voted to leave the bloc, amid a backdrop of domestic political chaos, a weakening economy, a spate of deadly terrorist attacks and simmering social tensions following a fatal fire in a government-run housing project.

David Davis, the country's top EU negotiator, met with his opposite number, Michel Barnier, in Brussels to begin what is expected to be a long and arduous series of talks aimed at extracting the U.K. from more than 40 years of political and economic ties with the European Union over the next two years. The two men, along with their negotiating teams, will attempt to form an agreement on Britain's financial commitments to the bloc, the so-called "Brexit Bill" before they take on the thorny issue of the U.K.'s trade relationship once it leaves the EU in 2019.

This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.