The State of the European Union. The European Parliament faces its most important elections yet

THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 122 by the end of 2020, the EU has agreed to insert a clause in the Withdrawal Agreement by which the transition period may be extended to a max- imum of two years – to December 2022 – by the common decision of both parties prior to July 2020. Should this clause be activated, the UK would continue to apply community law and take part in the Common Market for a period of up to three years following its formal withdraw- al from the EU. The most politically charged topic addressed during treaty negotiations has been the border between the Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, a sticky issue that ended up delaying the articulation of the final agreement, trigger- ing the resignation of May’s Brexit secretary and galvanising MPs from both parties against the deal. 16 The European position – accepted by May – is that Brexit must not result in a “hard” border that would restrict free flow of people underpinning the Good Friday Agreement, an objective key to the economic integration of the island and the integrity of the EU single mar- ket. 17 To achieve this, a backstop (safeguard clause) was included in a protocol annex. The backstop is an insurance mechanism by which, the United Kingdom, in its entirety, would tem- porarily remain in the EU Customs Union in the eventuality that negotiations on the Agreement on Future Relations have not yet been concluded 16  Dominic Raab’s resignation over the inclusion of the backstop in the agreement stems from his notion that it represents an inexcusable concession of sovereignty the United Kingdom cannot unilaterally terminate that weak- ens the British negotiating stance on the Agreement on Future Relations. See: Raab, D.: Resignation Letter to the Prime Minister Theresa May, 15 November 2018. https:// www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/dominic-raab-full-text- of-brexit-secretary-s-resignation-letter-1.3698633 17  Menon, A., and Hayward, K. (eds.): Brexit and the back- stop: everything you need to know. The UK in a Changing Europe, 11 February 2019. https://ukandeu.ac.uk/brexit- and-the-backstop-everything-you-need-to-know/ at the point the transition period ends. The backstop has been seized upon as a sovereignty issue by politicians firmly against the Withdrawal Agreement, but it is not clear what type of modification of the mechanism would ease the ratification of the agreement. 18 The Declaration setting out the framework for the future relation between the UK and the EU The Withdrawal Agreement is accompanied by the Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the EU and the UK, a political declaration that sets out in suc- cint and general terms some guidelines for the negotiations on the future relationship between the EU and the UK – a relationship that can only be negotiated once the United Kingdom be- comes a third country. 19 This document under- scores the significantly different bases upon which the two parties will undertake this new challenge: whereas in the case of the EU its con- tents provide a mere “framework” for a future relationship between the two parties 20 , for the British government they clearly imply that “the 18  As Menon aptly notes, much of parliamentary opposition to the backstop has been a proxy for other personal, ideo- logical and party-political grievances. One cannot therefore assume, that a modification of the safeguard clause would necessarily ensure parliamentary approval of the Treaty. Menon, A.: Foreword, in: Menon A., and Hayward, K., Brexit and the backstop..., op. cit ., 2019, p. 2. 19  Political declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom, DO C 66 I, 19.2.2019, p. 185. 20  Barnier, M.: Statement at the Plenary Session of the Eu- ropean Parliament on the Article 50 negotiations with the United Kingdom, Brussels, 29 November 2018, (STATE- MENT/18/6622). http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATE MENT-18-6622_en.htm