This article is more than 7 months old

This article is more than 7 months old

Emmanuel Macron warned Europeans that Brexit was an “alarm signal” of huge historic significance as the EU flag was hauled from the flagpole outside the UK government’s main office in Brussels, marking the end of Britain’s membership of the bloc.

Speaking in Paris, the French president referenced the defining nature of the British decision to turn its back on 47 years of membership. “There is a long history between France and Britain, one made of blood, freedom, courage and battles, I will not forget that,” he said.

Macron said Brexit was a shock and a “historical alarm signal” that needed to be heard across Europe. He reiterated his claim that the 2016 leave campaign was based on “lies, exaggerations and cheques that were promised but will never come”.

In The Hague, when asked whether he had called Boris Johnson to offer his congratulations, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, responded by telling reporters there were no grounds for congratulations.

Timeline From Brefusal to Brexit: a history of Britain in the EU Show Hide After 47 years and 30 days it was all over. As the clock struck 11pm on 31 January 2020, the UK was officially divorced from the EU and began trying to carve out a new global role as a sovereign nation. It was a union that got off to a tricky start and continued to be marked by the UK’s sometimes conflicted relationship with its neighbours. Brefusal The French president, Charles de Gaulle, vetoes Britain’s entry to EEC, accusing the UK of a “deep-seated hostility” towards the European project. Brentry With Sir Edward Heath having signed the accession treaty the previous year, the UK enters the EEC in an official ceremony complete with a torch-lit rally, dickie-bowed officials and a procession of political leaders, including former prime ministers Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home.

Referendum The UK decides to stay in the common market after 67% voted "yes". Margaret Thatcher, later to be leader of the Conservative party, campaigned to remain. 'Give us our money back' Margaret Thatcher negotiated what became known as the UK rebate with other EU members after the "iron lady" marched into the former French royal palace at Fontainebleau to demand “our own money back” claiming for every £2 contributed we get only £1 back” despite being one of the “three poorer” members of the community. It was a move that sowed the seeds of Tory Euroscepticism that was to later cause the Brexit schism in the party. The Bruges speech Thatcher served notice on the EU community in a defining moment in EU politics in which she questioned the expansionist plans of Jacques Delors, who had remarked that 80% of all decisions on economic and social policy would be made by the European Community within 10 years with a European government in “embryo”. That was a bridge too far for Thatcher. The cold war ends Collapse of Berlin wall and fall of communism in eastern Europe, which would later lead to expansion of EU. 'No, no, no' Divisions between the UK and the EU deepened with Thatcher telling the Commons in an infamous speech it was ‘no, no, no’ to what she saw as Delors’ continued power grab. Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper ratchets up its opposition to Europe with a two-fingered “Up yours Delors” front page. Black Wednesday A collapse in the pound forced prime minister John Major and the then chancellor Norman Lamont to pull the UK out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism. The single market On 1 January, customs checks and duties were removed across the bloc. Thatcher hailed the vision of “a single market without barriers – visible or invisible – giving you direct and unhindered access to the purchasing power of over 300 million of the world’s wealthiest and most prosperous people". Maastricht treaty Tory rebels vote against the treaty that paved the way for the creation of the European Union. John Major won the vote the following day in a pyrrhic victory. Repairing the relationship Tony Blair patches up the relationship. Signs up to social charter and workers' rights. Ukip Nigel Farage elected an MEP and immediately goes on the offensive in Brussels. “Our interests are best served by not being a member of this club,” he said in his maiden speech. “The level playing field is about as level as the decks of the Titanic after it hit an iceberg.” The euro Chancellor Gordon Brown decides the UK will not join the euro. EU enlarges to to include eight countries of the former eastern bloc including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. EU expands again, allowing Romania and Bulgaria into the club. Migrant crisis Anti-immigration hysteria seems to take hold with references to “cockroches” by Katie Hopkins in the Sun and tabloid headlines such as “How many more can we take?” and “Calais crisis: send in the dogs”. David Cameron returns from Brussels with an EU reform package - but it isn't enough to appease the Eurosceptic wing of his own party Brexit referendum The UK votes to leave the European Union, triggering David Cameron's resignation and paving the way for Theresa May to become prime minister Britain leaves the EU After years of parliamentary impasse during Theresa May's attempt to get a deal agreed, the UK leaves the EU.

The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, described it as a “bittersweet” moment after more than three years of uncertainty for Ireland about the border with Northern Ireland.

At dusk, without fanfare and with the siren of a passing police car screaming in the background, a British official reached out from a top window of the UK’s permanent representation in the Belgian capital in a moment that was low on drama but high in symbolism.

Earlier in the day, Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, wished Britons well, but vowed to fight for the EU’s interests in the coming negotiations over the future relationship.

Play Video 2:28 'Why does everyone want to divide us?': EU presidents bid adieu to the UK – video

“We want to have the best possible relationship with the United Kingdom, but it will never be as good as membership,” she said. “Our experience has taught us that strength does not lie in splendid isolation, but in our unique union.

“It is clear Europe will defend its interests in a determined manner. Only those who acknowledge rules of internal market can benefit from the common market.”

The former German defence minister, who studied in London, said she was determined to ensure the EU became a stronger union without the UK.

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“As the sun rises tomorrow, a new chapter for our union of 27 begins. Tomorrow is not the end but a beginning,” she said. “Tomorrow, almost half a century of the UK’s membership of the EU is over. When the UK joined I was still at school, we were six member states; tomorrow we will be 27 member states.

“All these years, 47-plus years, our union has gained political impetus and become a global powerhouse,” she added.

Charles Michel, the former Belgian prime minister who is now president of the European council, told reporters the EU wanted to have the closest ties possible with the UK, but added: “We have to be very clear, if the UK decides to diverge from EU standards it will have less access to the single market.”

David Sassoli, the president of the European parliament, said Brexit marked “a wound” and it was a chance to take stock of Britain’s decision.

Sassoli, an Italian MEP from the socialist group in the parliament, claimed the EU was a bulwark against the unfettered use of strength on the global stage. “Ask yourselves this: why does everyone want to divide us today? Because when there are common rules, we live better and defend those who are weaker. Where there are no rules, only the strongest prevail.”

Earlier in the day, Brexit party MEPs staged a procession from the steps of the European parliament into the adjacent square, before preparing to catch a mid-morning Eurostar train to London.

Play Video 5:36 The road to Brexit: the lols and the lows - video supercut

Led by a bagpiper in Highland dress, the cheering MEPs trooped across the large open space in front of the parliament carrying a union flag. The Brexit party MEP and former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe led the group, as Nigel Farage had already left Brussels.

“We are taking our flag home,” shouted the MEP Nathan Gill as he helped Widdecombe into a taxi that briefly stopped the traffic to make a slow exit from Place du Luxembourg, the flag flying out of its window.

“Everyone is trying not to be triumphalist, that is part of the deal,” said the Brexit party’s Claire Fox. “You want to be able to celebrate but, by the way, most of my friends voted remain and they accepted the vote many years ago.”

She said she felt relief “because a year ago I thought Brexit was finished”, adding: “We have restored faith in the ballot box for British people and I am really delighted on their behalf that they haven’t been bullied into going against what they voted for in the first place.”

On Thursday, the Bank of England downgraded its view of the underlying prospects for the UK economy to the lowest level since the second world war.

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Speaking in Paris, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said things “would never be the same as before” between the EU and Britain, because “the British don’t want them to be”. He said the EU would be guided in the future talks by the principle that “we will not compromise to the detriment of the single market”.

The EU “respects the UK’s choice”, he said. “But they must decide what they want. They want to diverge from the EU rulebook – the question is, will it be a reasonable divergence, or will it lead to a situation of social dumping, of unfair competition? ... So the more they diverge, the less access to the single market they will have.”

Barnier said the risk of a new cliff-edge if no trade deal is reached was real, but “the British have set the timetable. If Boris Johnson chooses not to extend the transition period, it will be he who has imposed a time constraint on the talks.”

Additional reporting by Jon Henley in Paris