The Law and Politics of Brexit: the Withdrawal Agreement

The book examines the law and politics of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, attached to the Withdrawal Agreement, which regulates the terms of Brexit. The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland deals with the most complex issue which emerged during the withdrawal negotiations between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), namely how to avoid a hard border in the island of Ireland and preserve the peace process started in Northern Ireland with the 1998 Belfast Good Friday Agreement. To this end, the Protocol, which was agreed in its final form in October 2019, establishes a bespoke solution, notably by keeping Northern Ireland aligned to EU customs and internal market rules. Nevertheless, the operation of the Protocol, which has formally entered into force in January 2021, has stirred political controversies in the Unionist community in Northern Ireland, and caused diplomatic confrontation between the EU and the UK. The purpose of this book is therefore to provide the first interdisciplinary overview of the Protocol, shedding light on its context, content and challenges. The book-which brings together contributions by leading legal scholars, political scientists, sociologists, and trade experts from Northern Ireland, Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, and the United States-provides a comprehensive and contextual assessment of the Protocol. It examines its setting, including constitutional trends in the UK and Ireland, focuses on its substantive clauses dealing with human rights and cross-border cooperation, as well as on those related to trade, and analyses its governance mechanisms, including democratic consent and safeguards.

The book provides the first scholarly analysis of the withdrawal agreement concluded between the United Kingdom and the European Union to create the legal framework for Brexit on 31 January 2020. The volume covers the negotiation process, the substantive provisions, governance arrangements under the Agreement and the main challenges ahead.

This text provides a scholarly analysis of the withdrawal agreement concluded between the United Kingdom and the European Union to create the legal framework for Brexit on 31st January, 2020. The volume covers the negotiation process, the substantive provisions, governance arrangements under the Agreement and the main challenges ahead.

This work covers the political and legal implications of the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union. Structured in four parts, the text covers the background of how Brexit came to be, the implications of Brexit on the constitutional structure of the UK, and also the EU, and finally how the EU project can go forward beyond Brexit.

This book covers the political and legal implications of the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union. Structured in four parts, the book covers the background of how Brexit came to be, the implications of Brexit on the constitutional structure of the UK, and also the EU, and finally how the EU project can go forward beyond Brexit.

The decision by the people of the United Kingdom to vote in a referendum in June 2016 to leave the European Union has produced shock waves across Europe and the world. Brexit calls into question consolidated assumptions on the finality of the EU, and simultaneously sparks new challenges. These new challenges are not only in regard of the constitutional settlements reached in the UK, notably in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but also on the future of European integration. Now that Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union has been invoked, and the path towards full withdrawal by the UK from the EU remains clouded in uncertainties, a comprehensive legal and political analysis of how Brexit impacts on UK and the EU appears of the utmost importance. This book brings together leading lawyers, economists and political scientists to discuss the constitutional implications of Brexit and propose possible solutions for the way forward. The book is structured around four main themes. First, it considers how Brexit will be implemented legally and politically, in terms of the withdrawal and the possible new relations between the UK and the EU. Second, it examines the implications of Brexit on the constitutional structure of the UK, as well as on the status of Northern Ireland and the relations with the Republic of Ireland. Third, it examines the implications of Brexit on the constitutional structure of the EU, focusing on a number of key areas of EU policy-making, notably the Area of Freedom Security and Justice, the Single Market, and Economic and Monetary Union. Fourth and finally, the book looks into the mid to long term future, and discusses the prospects for relaunching the EU after and beyond Brexit