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The status of Brexit negotiations as of
spring 2018
The political process commonly referred to as
Brexit, a euphemism for the withdrawal of the
United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union
(EU) popularised by the press, will undoubtedly
be one of the most important and disruptive
factors in European politics in 2018
1
. This text,
which is meant to be a follow-up to a chapter
contained last year’s State of the Union report,
provides an overview of progress made relative
to negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from
the EU up to the spring 2018 and a brief sum-
1
Brexit, a neologism combining the words “Britain” and
“exit” made popular by the press, refers to the UK’s with-
drawal from the European Union, an event that has not yet
taken place but is expected to become official on 29 March
2019 according to Greenwich Mean (London) Time and 30
March 2019 according to Central Eastern European Time
(observed in Brussels, the city in which core EU institutions
or located, and the reference date adopted by the European
Council).
mary of what remains to be accomplished dur-
ing the months ahead
2
.
We will approach this analysis of the nego-
tiations underway from the perspective of the
impact of constitutional politics on the EU,
which is to say, in terms of changes within its
current structure about to take place within the
context of the withdrawal of one of its Member
States. It should be noted that the scope of this
discussion will be limited to withdrawal – the
process by which the EU and the UK will deter-
mine, by mutual consensus in accordance with
Article 50 of the TEU, the form and substance of
the UK’s exit from the Union and the framework
for legal and political relations between the EU
and the UK following this rupture. As such, it will
not approach the topic from the viewpoint of
the reduction of the EU (i.e., the impact of the
2
See: Guinea Llorente, M.: “El
brexit
: las negociaciones de
retirada del Reino Unido de la Unión Europea”, in: López
Garrido, D. (Dir.),
Informe sobre el estado de la Unión Eu-
ropea 2017. Relanzar Europa,
Madrid, Fundación Alternati-
vas, 2017, pp. 105-114.
Spring 2018 Brexit
negotiations: progress
and future prospects
Mercedes Guinea Llorente