Britain on Monday began formal talks on its upcoming exit from the European Union, nearly a year after the country had voted to to leave the EU in a referendum. The United Kingdom’s Brexit Minister David Davis and the European Union’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier from France, met at the European Commission in Brussels at 10 am BST (2.30 pm IST) to formally begin the negotiations.

“While there is a long road ahead, our destination is clear – a deep and special partnership between the UK and the EU. A deal like no other in history,” Davis said in a statement as he headed into the first meeting, PTI reported earlier on Monday. Barnier, before beginning the talks, expressed sympathy for the Finsbury Park attack in London on Monday in which one person died and several were injured, reported The Guardian.

“We must first tackle uncertainties caused by Brexit. First for citizens, also for beneficiaries of EU policies and the impact on borders,” Barnier said as the talks began. He also said that a timetable for Brexit would be outlined in the talks on Monday. Stating that the times ahead will be “challenging”, Davis said the emphasis will be on starting the talks in a “constructive tone”.

The talks will initially focus on three areas insisted on by the EU – Britain’s Brexit bill, estimated at around 100 billion euros (Rs 7,200 billion), the rights of three million EU nationals living in Britain and one million Britons on the continent, and the status of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

British Prime Minister Theresa May set the stage for Brexit by triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union on March 29, 2017. Currently, the UK is on course to leave the European Union by March 30, 2019.