A New Legal Framework for EU-UK Relations: Some Reflections from the Perspective of EU External Relations Law

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2021 6(1), 785-799 | Article | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. A complex legal structure including a Trade and Cooperation Agreement and supplementing agreements. - III. Legal basis: a pragmatic use of the Treaty pro...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Peter Van Elsuwege
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Papers (www.europeanpapers.eu) 2021-05-01
Series:European Papers
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.europeanpapers.eu/en/e-journal/new-legal-framework-eu-uk-relations-from-eu-external-relations-perspective
_version_ 1818743009408188416
author Peter Van Elsuwege
author_facet Peter Van Elsuwege
author_sort Peter Van Elsuwege
collection DOAJ
description (Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2021 6(1), 785-799 | Article | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. A complex legal structure including a Trade and Cooperation Agreement and supplementing agreements. - III. Legal basis: a pragmatic use of the Treaty provision on association (art. 217 TFEU). - IV. The option of an EU-only agreement and its consequences. - V. Provisional application and the role of the European Parliament. - VI. Concluding remarks: pragmatism and flexibility in EU-UK relations. | (Abstract) The withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU), commonly known as Brexit, resulted in the establishment of a new bilateral legal framework for the future development of EU-UK relations. The new framework is based on a Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) in combination with more specific supplementing agreements concerning the exchange of classified information and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Without entering into a detailed substantive analysis of these agreements, several innovative elements can be highlighted from the perspective of EU external relations law. This includes, in particular, the governance structure of the new legal framework, the use of art. 217 TFEU (on association) as a legal basis, the "EU-only" nature of the TCA and the provisional application without prior involvement of the European Parliament. It is argued that these key features are largely the result of an unprecedented process of negotiations under the time pressure of the expiry date for the transitional application of EU law in the UK.
first_indexed 2024-12-18T02:21:36Z
format Article
id doaj.art-f71dcf29b19a47e18c9fa64701bc25e4
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2499-8249
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-18T02:21:36Z
publishDate 2021-05-01
publisher European Papers (www.europeanpapers.eu)
record_format Article
series European Papers
spelling doaj.art-f71dcf29b19a47e18c9fa64701bc25e42022-12-21T21:24:10ZengEuropean Papers (www.europeanpapers.eu)European Papers2499-82492021-05-012021 6178579910.15166/2499-8249/461A New Legal Framework for EU-UK Relations: Some Reflections from the Perspective of EU External Relations LawPeter Van Elsuwege0Ghent University(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2021 6(1), 785-799 | Article | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. A complex legal structure including a Trade and Cooperation Agreement and supplementing agreements. - III. Legal basis: a pragmatic use of the Treaty provision on association (art. 217 TFEU). - IV. The option of an EU-only agreement and its consequences. - V. Provisional application and the role of the European Parliament. - VI. Concluding remarks: pragmatism and flexibility in EU-UK relations. | (Abstract) The withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU), commonly known as Brexit, resulted in the establishment of a new bilateral legal framework for the future development of EU-UK relations. The new framework is based on a Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) in combination with more specific supplementing agreements concerning the exchange of classified information and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Without entering into a detailed substantive analysis of these agreements, several innovative elements can be highlighted from the perspective of EU external relations law. This includes, in particular, the governance structure of the new legal framework, the use of art. 217 TFEU (on association) as a legal basis, the "EU-only" nature of the TCA and the provisional application without prior involvement of the European Parliament. It is argued that these key features are largely the result of an unprecedented process of negotiations under the time pressure of the expiry date for the transitional application of EU law in the UK.https://www.europeanpapers.eu/en/e-journal/new-legal-framework-eu-uk-relations-from-eu-external-relations-perspectivebrexitunited kingdomtcaassociationprovisional applicationmixity
spellingShingle Peter Van Elsuwege
A New Legal Framework for EU-UK Relations: Some Reflections from the Perspective of EU External Relations Law
European Papers
brexit
united kingdom
tca
association
provisional application
mixity
title A New Legal Framework for EU-UK Relations: Some Reflections from the Perspective of EU External Relations Law
title_full A New Legal Framework for EU-UK Relations: Some Reflections from the Perspective of EU External Relations Law
title_fullStr A New Legal Framework for EU-UK Relations: Some Reflections from the Perspective of EU External Relations Law
title_full_unstemmed A New Legal Framework for EU-UK Relations: Some Reflections from the Perspective of EU External Relations Law
title_short A New Legal Framework for EU-UK Relations: Some Reflections from the Perspective of EU External Relations Law
title_sort new legal framework for eu uk relations some reflections from the perspective of eu external relations law
topic brexit
united kingdom
tca
association
provisional application
mixity
url https://www.europeanpapers.eu/en/e-journal/new-legal-framework-eu-uk-relations-from-eu-external-relations-perspective
work_keys_str_mv AT petervanelsuwege anewlegalframeworkforeuukrelationssomereflectionsfromtheperspectiveofeuexternalrelationslaw
AT petervanelsuwege newlegalframeworkforeuukrelationssomereflectionsfromtheperspectiveofeuexternalrelationslaw