What to Expect if Britain Votes to Leave the European Union

A sense of denial permeated the corridors of power in Brussels in the weeks before the referendum on British membership of the European Union (EU). Communications staff were even rumored to have been banned from using the word “Brexit.” But now that difficult divorce has become a reality, and officials in the E.U’s de-facto capital must reckon with what comes next — at the very least, a long and difficult negotiating period and years of uncertainty.