British Prime Minister Theresa May and her government have indicated that they would trigger the Article 50 by the end of March this year, which would formally trigger the exit process from the British membership of the European Union. Several UK companies have called on the Prime Minister to make sure that the United Kingdom will retain the access to the European Union single market which helps especially the British financial services company to have tariff-free access to the entire continent. The single market sets common rules for the trade in goods and services, as well as facilitating the free movement of capital and people; the European Court of Justice (ECJ) enforces the rules in the market covering 500 million people.

While keeping the access to the single market would be Ms. May’s government’s top priority, it is unlikely to be the red line. Ms. May’s top priority would be to ensure that her government controls the immigration laws for the country and would seek to end the European Court of Justice’s meddling with the country’s affairs. One the other side, European member states have indicated that to have access to the single market, the UK must accept the free movement of the people.