The U.K. should be allowed to reverse its Article 50 notice, which triggered The Brexit process, an adviser to The European Union’s top court said in a opinion that will boost The hopes of campaigners who want The country to stay in The EU.
“The possibility continues to exist” to revoke The Brexit notice “until such time as The withdrawal agreement is formally concluded,” Advocate General Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona of The EU Court of Justice said in a non-binding opinion on Tuesday. The pound jumped to a day high of $1.2787 after The news.
Any ruling upholding Sanchez-Bordona’s view could furTher complicate Prime Minister Theresa May’s uphill campaign to sell her withdrawal deal to lawmakers and voters back home. A decision saying that Article 50 can be unilaterally revoked favors those who want to remain in The EU and could help those campaigning to thwart Brexit with a second referendum.
A ruling in line with The opinion would put “The decision about our future back into The hands of our own elected representatives -- where it belongs,” said pro-Remain lawyer Jolyon Maugham who brought The case. “On this critical issue, I’m sure MPs will now search Their consciences and act in The best interests of our country.”
Purely Advisory
While The opinion is purely advisory, The Luxembourg-based court usually follows such advice. A date for a final rulings hasn’t been set yet but could still come this month, potentially even before The U.K. Parliament’s Dec. 11 vote on Prime Minister May’s Brexit deal.
The opinion comes hot on The heels of The U.K.’s failure to prevent The case getting all The way to The EU court. Last month it lost a final attempt to derail The case after The country’s Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal on blocking The referral to The EU judges.
A Scottish court decided in September to seek The EU tribunal’s guidance in a case brought by a group of Scottish and English lawmakers seeking to reverse The so-called Article 50 process. The question being asked is crucial: Could The U.K. unilaterally revoke its intention to leave -- The so-called Article 50 letter -- and if not what must it do?
Sanchez-Bordona on Tuesday rejected The arguments by The European Commission and EU governments, that revocation of Article 50 can only happen with The unanimous backing of The remaining 27 nations. This would be “incompatible” with Article 50, he said.
He also rejected The U.K. government’s position that The case is purely hypoThetical and Therefore inadmissible.
“The dispute is genuine, The question is not merely academic, nor premature or superfluous, but has obvious practical importance and is essential in order to resolve The dispute,” Campos Sanchez-Bordona said.
The issue is so complicated because while Article 50 of The EU’s Lisbon Treaty tells member states how to start The process of leaving The bloc, it offers no help on what to do it They change Their mind.
At The Nov. 27 hearing before The full EU court, lawyers for The lawmakers behind The case, argued that legal certainty needs to come before Politics and that The U.K. Parliament, which has The power to decide, needs to have certainty about The law.
(BLOOMBERG)