ECJ rules UK can unilaterally stop Brexit process
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Monday 10 Dec 2018
(Sharecast News) - The European Court of Justice on Monday ruled that the British government can unilaterally reverse its decision to leave the European Union without the consent of other bloc members.
In an emergency judgment delivered the day before the UK parliament is due to vote on the government's Brexit deal with the EU which is expected to be roundly rejected by MPs.
"The United Kingdom is free to revoke unilaterally the notification of its intention to withdraw from the EU," the ECJ said.
The decision will boost the hopes of campaigners for a second referendum on the withdrawal agreement, which Prime Minister Theresa May has categorically ruled out, despite widespread criticism from all sides.
The ruling follows an opinion delivered last week by the ECJ advocate general, Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona, who said last week that article 50 of the Lisbon treaty allows the "unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, until such time as the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded".
The court said it issued the judgement to clarify the "options open to MPs who must decide on the ratification of the agreement negotiated between the UK and the EU".
According to the court, the sovereign nature of the right of withdrawal supported the conclusion that a member state had a right to revoke the notification of its intention to withdraw from the EU "as long as a withdrawal agreement has not entered into force or, if no such agreement has been concluded, for as long as the two-year period, and any possible extension, has not expired".
"The court considers that it would be inconsistent with the EU Treaties' purpose of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe to force the withdrawal of a Member State which, having notified its intention to withdraw from the EU in accordance with its constitutional rules and following a democratic process, decides to revoke the notification of that intention through a democratic process," it added.
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