CPACD

Some of the materials available to assist with the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration.  Lists to be updated if new material is published - see Additions below. The Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration were published on 25 November: Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, as agreed at negotiators' level on 14 November 2018 Draft Political Declaration and see Government Statement Explainers: European Union - Brexit negotiations: What is in the Withdrawal Agreement UK government - Withdrawal Agreement Explainer Parliamentary Committees: House of Commons - Exiting the EU House of Commons - Treasury Committee House of Lords - EU Select Committee Debates: House of Commons Monday 26 November - where many MPs expressed their concerns about the deal Financial / Economy: UK government - Long term economic analysis - presented by the Prime Mini...

The government has published a White Paper on Legislating for the EU Withdrawal Agreement and it is available via the Department for Exiting the EU website - 44 pages pdf. Chapter 5 of the white paper sets out Procedures for approval and implementation of the withdrawal agreement and framework for the future relationship. There are two statutory procedures to be followed under - (1) section 13 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and (2) the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (CRAG).  If "the deal" survives both processes then the government will be able to proceed to ratifying the Withdrawal Agreement at which point it becomes binding on the UK in international law. In case anyone is wondering, the European Union Act 2011 was largely repealed on 4 July 2018 and will be completely gone on Exit Day - see this Commencement Order .   The 2011 Act, inter alia, imposed a requirement for a referendum to be held under certain circumstances. The European Unio...

Today, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will sit en banc to hear argument in a preliminary reference from Scotland's Court of Session.  The Scottish court made the reference in Wightman and others v Secretary of State for Exiting the EU [2018] CSIH 62 - Lord Carloway (Lord President) and Lords Menzies and Drummond Young.  The CJEU Case number is C-621/18. An attempt to stop the reference was made by the UK government but this was rejected by the UK Supreme Court on 20 November - see HERE   The reference asks the CJEU to determine whether unilateral revocation of the Article 50 notice is permissible under EU law. The Good Law Project has published documents relating to the CJEU hearing including  the Petitioner's case - HERE .  Paragraph 2 of that case sets out the question to be answered - Article 50 TEU is silent on the question of whether notification may be withdrawn and the question of whether unilateral revocation is permissible ...

"Ahead of us is the difficult process of ratification as well as further negotiations. But regardless of how it will all end, one thing is certain: we will remain friends until the end of days, and one day longer" - Statement by EU Council President Donald Tusk 25 November 2018 . On 22 January 1972, at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Prime Minister Edward Heath signed the Treaty of Accession taking the United Kingdom into the European Communities with effect from 1 January 1973.  Denmark and Ireland also acceded to the communities at the same time.  Norway had participated in the accession negotiations but did not join as a result of an adverse national referendum .  Norway also rejected membership in 1994. At the time, accession was far from universally accepted in the UK and there is much to be said for the view expressed by former diplomat Sir Crispin Tickell that the UK never fully played the leading role that could have been possible - The Guardian 25 June 2016 . ...