Skip to main content

Brexit ~ some notes of interest

Mr Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council,  made a statement at the G20 meeting held in Argentina - see European Council 30 November.     He said, "Many leaders will certainly have questions about Brexit. Therefore, let me say this. The European Union has just agreed an orderly divorce with the United Kingdom. A few days before the vote in the House of Commons, it is becoming more and more clear that this deal is the best possible, in fact, the only possible one. If this deal is rejected in the Commons, we are left with, as was already stressed a few weeks ago by  Prime Minister May an alternative: "no deal; or no Brexit at all."  I want to reassure you that the EU is prepared for every scenario."   Food for thought for MPs in the forthcoming House of Commons debate and vote.   The vote is scheduled for 11 December.


On Tuesday 27 November, the Court of Justice of the EU heard argument in the reference from Scotland's Court of Session.  The court's Advocate -General will deliver his opinion on 4 December.  The opinion is not legally binding on the court but such opinions are usually adopted.  I covered the hearing in this previous post and the answer may yet prove to be important if the House of Commons decides to reject the draft Withdrawal Agreement / Political Declaration.

Elections for the European Parliament (EP) will be held over 23-26 May 2019.  This is likely to be of passing interest in the UK given that Brexit is planned to take place on 29 March 2019.  After that, the UK will not participate in elections and democratic representation at the EP will cease.  The 73 Members of the European Parliament will benefit from final payments and pensions.  The loss of democratic representation is a concern given that the UK will continue to be bound by new EU legislation for the duration of the transition period.   Turnout in the UK for the EP election in 2014 was 35.6%.  The highest turnout since 1979 was in 2004 when it was 38.52%.  Across Europe, the percentage turnouts are shown HERE.

The President of the European Commission - Mr Jean Claude Juncker - retires in 2019 and is likely to be replaced through the so-called "Spitzenkandidaten" (lead candidate) system.  The Treaty on European Union Article 17(7) requires the European Council, acting by qualified majority, to nominate a Commission President for the European Parliament’s approval, while taking into account the results of the European Parliament election.

The “Spitzenkandidat” procedure is not mentioned in the EU’s treaty. When it was used for the first time in 2014, it was primarily an agreement between EU leaders in the European Council, the European Parliament and European political parties on how to interpret the wording in the treaties. The Spitzenkandidat procedure hands the Commission Presidency to the “lead candidate” from the European political party winning the most seats in the European Parliament. This was the case in 2014, when the European People’s Party’s lead candidate Jean-Claude Juncker was appointed Commission President. A European political party is a political party operating on European level, which could be funded by the European Union, and which is made up of national parties based in the member states.


The UK prides itself on adherence to treaty obligations but at least one MP - Sir Edward Leigh - has raised a question about whether the UK could ever get out of the entire Withdrawal Agreement.  Termination of treaties can be a complex question and is provided for in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties .  It may be achieved in various ways:
  • consent
  • by applying a specific provision in the treaty
  • material breach such that the other party (or parties) regard the treaty as ended
  • Supervening impossibility of performance
  • Fundamental change of circumstances.
Treaties are of course binding upon the parties to them and must be performed in good faith - referred to as pact sunt servanda.  This principle underlies every international agreement.

Sir Edward Leigh appears to base his question on the "fundamental change of circumstances" ground - see his website "Full stop for the backstop."   He argues that making the Northern Ireland backstop permanent would constitute such a fundamental change of circumstances.

Under international law, this ground has a restricted scope and requires a fundamental change in the cirumstances under which the parties accepted the treaty.  In other words, performance of the treaty has become something essentially different from the originally undertaken.  See further - Article 62 of the Vienna Convention.

It is difficult to see how invoking the backstop - even permanently - would be a fundamental change of circumstances given that the backstop is expressly provided for in the withdrawal agreement itself.

The withdrawal agreement does not contain a specific provision for termination of the entire agreement but it contains provision to bring the Ireland / Northern Ireland Protocol to an end by agreement.  The plan is to never require the Protocol ("backstop") because an agreement on the future relationship would be negotiated so as to take effect at the end of the transition period.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Fastest Way To Lose Weight For Women

Have you been looking for the fastest way to shed pounds for girls however have come up empty handed? Is there a reason why girls have exclusive questions and issues than guys with regard to health? There is a lot incorrect information and contradictions in the health enterprise that it is able to make your head spin. We are going to address the ones very problems and get proper to the point. You want to lose weight the healthy way and also you want it fast. Let's jump proper in! 1)Fasting 1-2 times every week Don't fear approximately "ravenous" yourself or wondering if your frame will cross into "hunger mode." This is one in all the biggest myths of the diet and health industry. Fasting for a 24 hour period 1-2 instances per week is a completely healthful and useful way to lose fats. Fasting offers the digestive machine a break whilst creating a big caloric deficit this is needed to lose the extra pounds. Fasting has also been related to assuaging health tr...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Do You Get Lean? Start Eating Functionally

 Now, I like most of the people enjoy a chunk of ingesting out, specially breakfasts and even takeaways now and then and these ingredients can be included into your upkeep diet in moderation depending to your interest degree and fitness situation, however on the subject of achieving your goal within the first area a disciplined strategy is required. The manner to consume to get lean is knowing the GI/GL cost of the ingredients you eat and the way those impact the glycogen stores in your muscle groups and liver, to get lean you want to lower those shops so that you can enter the fat burning sector. So going into this you want to have your desires clean, you are trying to lose body fat, you want to be leaner and it's going to take discipline and effort, human beings that strive to tell you in any other case are possibly looking to kid you into shopping for their merchandise or some thing on the premise that it's the clean way. Now it's handiest human nature to are seeking ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Burn Body Fat - Best Tip For Women Trying To Get Lean

To burn body fats is often a lengthy difficult system that finally ends up in frustration as the pounds all come returned proper after you stop some thing eating regimen you've got been on. Plus there are temptations everywhere for doubtlessly risky weight loss plan tablets, extremely-low calorie ingesting plans that cause your frame harm, and highly-priced workout system offered on past due-night TV. Instead of falling for the ones traps, allow me train you one of the more simple approaches to burn frame fats WITHOUT struggling and starving yourself until you skip out. Asian women have been the use of it for years to get lean, even after just having a child, and you too! Burn Body Fat - The Skinny Asian Way Now you're not going to research ALL of the fat-burning secrets and techniques that Asian ladies have from just a unmarried brief article or website. But you CAN choose up some of the fundamentals so that it will get you commenced at the right course to a higher body...
Post a Comment
Read more