As things stand, the United Kingdom can withdraw its resignation unilaterally and without the consent of the other EU countries and remain a member of the European Union, said the lawyer in Luxembourg on Tuesday. This applies until the conclusion of an exit agreement. Accordingly, he suggested to the ECJ that in a judgment, Article 50 of the withdrawal from the Union permit this.
This Scottish Brexit opponents were able to record a first success. They urge a second referendum that would allow Britain to vote in the EU. The highest Scottish civil court had asked the ECJ for a judgment on the matter.
The exit from Brexit is possible
On 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom formally informed the other EU states that it wanted to leave the EU. This marks the beginning of a two-year exit procedure under Article 50 of the EU Treaties, which ends on schedule with Brexit on 29 March 2019.
The EU Commission and the Council of Member States had argued before the European Court of Justice that the procedure could only be stopped by a unanimous decision of the Council. The ECJ Advocate General sees this clearly different. Campos Sánchez-Bordona’s opinion is not yet a judgment and therefore not legally binding. However, the ECJ often follows its reviewers. When the judges make the final decision was initially unclear.
Exit from Brexit possible – the ECJ’s Advocate General’s legal opinion allowed the British pound to rise within minutes on Tuesday, cheering on the growing Brexit opposition. At 51 percent, the majority of Britons are now in favor of staying in the EU and only about one third are in favor of leaving the EU.
In London, the nerves are bare
The nerves in London are correspondingly bleak, where the five-day debate began on Tuesday in Parliament, at the end of which will be voted on December 11 on the Brexit agreement of British Prime Minister Theresa May.
But their chances are bad that the agreement negotiated with Brussels will be approved by Parliament (May needs 320 of the 639 votes in the lower house). Dozens of Brexit hardliners in May’s conservative party reject it as too EU-friendly.
The opposition is also blocking itself. The Northern Irish DUP, to which Mays minority government relies, also refuses to approve. She does not want any special regulations in Northern Ireland. Should May be subject to parliament, her resignation and new elections are not excluded.
