The European Commission has said that there will be no negotiations with Britain on its divorce proceedings from the EU until Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty has been formally triggered.
A commission spokesman rejected any idea that preparatory work on the negotiations could begin ahead of the UK notifying its intention to leave.
Spokesman Margaritis Schinas was responding to the announcement by British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday that Article 50 would be triggered by the end of March next year.
Reaction in Europe to Ms May's announcement has been muted.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has identified travel and trade as being the main issues of concern to Ireland as a result of the UK's decision to leave the European Union.
European Council President Donald Tusk, who represents all 28 EU leaders, welcomed the clarification from Ms May, but added that the interests of the 27 EU members must now be safeguarded.
A spokesman for the European Commission said that the Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had spoken to Ms May by phone ahead of her speech to the Tory party conference yesterday.
The two will meet on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels in two weeks, but, he insisted there will be no negotiations with Britain ahead of the formal triggering of Article 50.
Britain appears keen to get some sense of what will or will not be negotiable, once the formal talks get under way.
Ms May says she wants preparatory work done, but so far Brussels and the other member states are sticking to the mantra, no negotiation without notification.
One senior member of the German government welcomed the fact that according to the timetable Britain would be exiting before the European Elections in 2019, although the leader of the Bundestag's European Affairs Committee accused Britain of being clueless about what to do.
A member of the French centre-right opposition party, meanwhile, responded to Ms May's announcement by saying that France should immediately apply to get the money back that it contributes to Britain's annual rebate of €6bn.
