Article 50 Q&A 1. What is Article 50 and how is it triggered?
7. Who are the main UK and EU actors in negotiations?
Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty allows a member state to withdraw from the EU “in accordance with its own constitutional requirements”. Article 50 will be triggered on Wednesday 29 March via a notification letter from the Prime Minister, Theresa May, to the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk.
Whilst there will be numerous politicians and officials handling various aspects of the negotiations, the following individuals will be leading the process:
2. What is the significance of the March 2017 deadline?
• Jean-Claude Juncker – President of the European Commission • Michel Barnier – European Commission Chief Brexit Negotiator • Donald Tusk – President of the European Council • Didier Seeuws – European Council Head of the Special Taskforce on the UK Brexit • Guy Verhofstadt MEP – European Parliament Brexit Coordinator
The UK Government’s deadline of 31 March is self-imposed, but failure to meet it would carry political implications. The Government wants to be seen to be implementing the referendum result, and Ministers also have an eye to the next UK general election, scheduled for May 2020. The Government wants to go to the electorate having delivered on their instruction – and they also want to avoid the potentially destabilising impact of conducting a campaign whilst negotiations are on-going.
3. What happens immediately after Article 50 is triggered? Once Article 50 has been triggered, the European Council will need to agree and issue broad guidelines to the Commission before formal negotiations can begin. The Council President Donald Tusk has said he will present the draft guidelines to the remaining EU member states within 48 hours of Article 50 being triggered. This is likely to be followed by a summit of EU27 leaders to finalise the guidelines.
4. Are there any key milestones during the two-year period? Article 50 does not specify what issues are discussed and when. This will be determined by those participating in the negotiations. There are numerous political events that could disrupt the negotiations, including elections in France (April/May) and Germany (September). Michel Barnier has indicated there will effectively be an 18-month window for negotiations to provide time for a final deal to be approved by EU institutions.
5. Can the UK’s withdrawal be completed sooner, or take longer, than two years? Article 50 states the EU treaties “shall cease to apply to the State in question from the date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement, or failing that, two years after the negotiation”. It may be technically possible for the UK and EU to conclude an exit agreement ahead of the two-year deadline. However, the general view is that once Article 50 has been invoked, the two-year timeframe cannot be paused. The two-year period could be extended through unanimous agreement of member states.
6. Can the UK legally revoke its invocation of Article 50? This remains subject to a considerable degree of interpretation. The European Court of Justice has never examined the question in the past. Technically, a “notification”, which is the term used in the article, is not a binding decision and can be withdrawn. The Commons Brexit Committee concluded there is nothing in Article 50 to prevent a member state from reversing its decision to withdraw. However, the political implications for doing so would be considerable, and would likely require a significant and sustained shift in public opinion.
EU27
UK
• Theresa May – Prime Minister • David Davis – Brexit Secretary • Sir Tim Barrow – UK Permanent Representative to the EU • Olly Robbins – Permanent Secretary, Department for Exiting the EU In practice, there is no firm cast list. Article 50 simply states that the European Council will agree “guidelines” for the process. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as leader of the biggest EU country, will obviously play a key role. The UK will also be seeking bi-lateral conversations with individual EU member states. The Commission will carry out the day-to-day negotiations.
8. What will be the initial points for negotiation? The UK and EU are likely to focus initially on the liabilities that will form the UK’s ‘Brexit bill’. If not agreed sooner, there will also be pressure to confirm mutual rights for existing EU citizens in the UK and vice versa. It is not yet clear whether the EU will agree to negotiate in depth the terms of the UK’s future relationship with the EU alongside the negotiation of the UK’s exit.
9. What are the red lines? Theresa May has focused on ending free movement and the authority of the European Court of Justice in the UK. Various EU leaders have focused on the unity of the ‘four freedoms’ (i.e. freedom of movement of goods, capital, services and people within the Single Market) and want to ensure that no deal to leave the EU is better than full membership.
10. Can divorce talks and talks over a new trading relationship take place concurrently? This is a matter for the negotiating teams, although some believe the EU is legally obliged to discuss the future relationship during the two-year Article 50 timeframe, due to Article 50’s wording. Another view is that the EU cannot engage in talks with the UK over a new free trade agreement as long as the UK is a member of the EU; it would need to become a “third country” for this to happen.