Màster en Diplomàcia i Funció Pública Internacional, Centre d'Estudis Internacionals, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2016-2017, Tutora: Montserrat Pi Llorens
On the 23rd of June 2016, the United Kingdom (UK) voted to leave the European
Union (EU) after forty-three years of membership. This represents an historical
moment given that it is the first time that the bloc, after decades of expansion, is
formally facing the loss of one of its largest members.
The main objective of this paper is to explain the lengthy and complex process of
Brexit from both an historical and a procedural point of view, as well as to address the
possible consequences that have been put on the table after Theresa May formally
triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty in late March 2017.
First of all, this paper sets out that Brexit is the result of the traditional
unenthusiastic and uninclined British tendency towards the European political
integration project, which had its origins in the very first UK negotiations to take part
in the European Economic Community (EEC) and which continued with the
celebration of the first referendum on the UK membership of the European
Community.
Secondly, it summarises and analyses briefly the procedure for a country to
withdraw from the European Union, as established by Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty,
and its interpretation by the UK Supreme Court due to the extraordinary case of the
United Kingdom, a country regulated by an unwritten constitution. Particularly
relevant in this regard is the fact that Brexit has raised the very significant issue of the
limits of the executive powers in Britain. Moreover, the fact that Theresa May
officially invoked Article 50 was soon followed by the response of the European
Union, providing its guidelines and core principles for negotiations.
Thirdly, some of the most significant expected effects of Brexit on the economy,
the law, politics and institutions will be outlined. This paper looks into the steps taken,
or to be taken, both by the United Kingdom and by the European Union and into how
matters may evolve in the following time. It provides, in broad terms, the possibilities
for a future association between the Union and its departing member and, finally, the
consequences that the departure of a large Member State like the United Kingdom may
entail for the rest of the policies of the Union and for the Union itself.
At last, the methodology that will be used in order to do so is based on a set of
resources, including articles, books, legislation, case law, conclusions of the European
Council, EU legal acts, legislation, political statements, UK political manifestos, press
sources, statistical data, white papers of both the United Kingdom and the European
Union, the opinion of some of the most relevant experts in Brexit and Internet sources.