Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash
Just in case you were in any doubt about the status of British membership of the EU, I’ve got a shock announcement to make:
Brexit is still not finished business and this country remains very much a member state with all the legal obligations this status entails.
The UK was supposed to leave the EU by 31 October 2019, but the British Prime Minister was forced by the Westminster Parliament to seek an extension as a result of the EU Withdrawal (No. 2) Act 2019. (aka the Benn Act). Parliament had passed this legislation in order to prevent the UK crashing out of the EU without a proper divorce or withdrawal agreement.
That brings me on to a recent development which highlights this situation perfectly.
Yesterday, Sky News reported that the European Commission is to take infringement proceedings against the UK for breach of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).
Every EU member state must nominate an individual to the Commission. The UK has failed to do this and the Commission has deemed this failure as a breach of the TEU.
You can see the press release issued by the Commission concerning infringement proceedings against the UK by clicking on the link below:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/document/print/en/ip_19_6286/IP_19_6286_EN.pdf
A link to the Sky News story can be found below:
http://news.sky.com/story/eu-legal-case-against-uk-over-failure-to-name-commissioner-11861369
When the European Council agreed to extend the period by which the UK would remain a member state, it explicitly stated:
“This further extension cannot be allowed to undermine the regular functioning of the Union and its institutions. Furthermore, it will have the consequence that the United Kingdom will remain a Member State until the new withdrawal date, with full rights and obligations in accordance with Article 50 TEU, including the obligation to suggest a candidate for appointment as a member of the Commission.”
A link to the Decision of the European Council of 28 October 2019 in this regard can be found below:
https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/XT-20024-2019-REV-2/en/pdf
This is like Groundhog Day: the UK thought that Brexit would be concluded before the date of the European Parliament elections on 23 May 2019. The Government of former Prime Minister Theresa May miscalculated and the country had to hold these elections in accordance with our EU membership obligations.
It would seem that there’s still plenty of life in the Greek politician and economist, Yannis Varoufakis’ statement likening the EU to the Hotel California: “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave!”
The basic line is that, when you’re a member of the club, you obey the rules until you leave; if you can …
Copyright Seán J Crossan, 15 November 2019
Seán Crossan's Scots Law 