The State of the European Union. The European states facing the reforms of the Union

THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

the European Council and the consent of the UK

government to extend the negotiating period

European institutions started preparing for

the decision-making required under the applica-

tion of Article 50 well before the trigger date

with an eye to undertaking effective negotia-

tions as soon as possible. Michel Barnier, whom

the Commission had appointed chief negotiator

during the summer of 2016, lost no time in put-

ting together a solid team known as Task Force

50,

and consultations with EU institutions and

key Member States were conducted for the pur-

pose of establishing a European negotiating po-

sition. On the basis of this inter-institutional

groundwork, the European Council adopted a

set of general guidelines for Brexit negotiations

on 29 April 2017

Council guidelines for the application of Article 50 of the

Treaty stipulated that “the date of entry into force of the

withdrawal agreement should be at the latest 00:00 Central

European (Brussels) time 30 March 2019”. The Commis-

sion’s recommendation for a Council decision furthermore

states that regardless of whether or not such an agreement

is reached and enters into force, all Union Treaties will cease

to apply to the United Kingdom and its withdrawal will be-

come effective as of that hour and date. See: Council of the

European Union,

Annex of Council decision (UE, Euratom)

2017/... authorising the opening of negotiations with the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for

an agreement setting out the arrangements for its with-

drawal from the European Union

Brussels, 22 May 2017,

(XT 21016/17 ADD 1 REV 2), pt. 8; European Commission,

Recommendation for a Council Decision authorising the

Commission to open negotiations on an agreement with

the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal from the

European Union,

Brussels, 3rd May 2017, (COM(2017) 218

final), p. 2.

As per Article 50, the member of the European Coun-

cil representing the UK is barred from participating in dis-

cussions related to the withdrawal process, in which only

the heads of state or government representing the 27 re-

maining Member States will have the right to take part.

European Council (Art. 50)

Guidelines following the United

Kingdom’s notification under

Article 50 TUE,

Brussels, 29

April 2017 (EUCO XT 20004/17).

As Article 50 of the TEU contained only ge-

neric and somewhat ambiguous provisions for

the withdrawal of a Member State, the bulk of

initial EU negotiation guidelines issued by the

European Council were devoted to procedural is-

sues and the rest to objectives and points to be

negotiated. All of this material formed an

acquis

constitutionnel,

a corpus of basic principles

shared by two other EU institutions (the European

Parliament and the European Commission), the

purpose of which was to “preserve the interests

of the Union”, which in the context of the nego-

tiations to follow would mean protecting the EU

from the risk of disintegration by focusing heav-

ily on damage control.

The EU negotiating strategy was based upon

four basic principles conceived to strengthen

the EU’s bargaining position and ensure unity

and cohesion between Member States and EU

institutions throughout the lengthy process.

These were:

1. All negotiation would be conducted exclu-

sively through one officially designated insti-

tutional channel as contemplated in Article

50 (a role assumed by the Commission-

appointed negotiator Michel Barnier). No

bilateral negotiation, direct negotiation be-

tween the UK and individual Member States

or minilateral negotiation on the part of

groups of States was to be allowed

2. Unilateral withdrawal of notification on the

part of the UK would not be impossible but

the possibility of reversing the process would

remain open under mutual agreement,

the approval of which would depend on the

The governments of various individual Member States

have reportedly turned down attempts on the part of the

UK diplomatic corps to open bilateral negotiations, remind-

ing these contacts that the Commission is the Union’s sole

negotiator on withdrawal.