A frequent criticism of the Prime Minister is that she prematurely triggered the Article 50 negotiations in March 2017 and did so without a realistic plan for their conduct. If she had waited longer and planned better, her critics contend, she could have negotiated a more acceptable Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration than the texts...Read More

Four conclusions emerge from the series of votes on Brexit in the House of Commons this week (29th January): • First, this government is so paralysed by internal division that it is incapable of pursuing any coherent policy in the negotiations. As long as it is in office but not in power, the UK is therefore...Read More

The issues relating to the status of Northern Ireland after Brexit, and in particular the Irish “backstop,” have not yet been resolved. The major political and administrative challenges confronting the Brexit negotiators in this area are however relatively clear. Assuming that the major economic changes ushered in by Brexit do not take effect until 2021,...Read More

The part leaking to the press of the Government’s EU Exit Analysis – Cross Whitehall Briefing’[i] highlighted the dire consequences for many parts of the UK of leaving the EU in the June 2016 referendum. The leak and its handling also exposed the extreme reluctance of the Government to provide the information necessary for informed public debate....Read More

In his recent testimony to the House of Lords, Sir Ivan Rogers, former British Permanent Representative to the European Union, criticized as premature and ill-prepared the Prime Minister’s triggering last March of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. This is unfair to Theresa May. No different date for the beginning of the Brexit negotiations could...Read More

Brexit is the source of a great deal of uncertainty as far as the exit agreement is concerned. The British government has announced that it will trigger the procedure provided for by article 50 TEU on 29th March, but the commercial aspect of the negotiations is still subject to several strategic factors. Moreover, Theresa May’s...Read More