Withdrawal Under Article 50 TEU: An Integration-Friendly Process
31 Pages Posted: 21 Apr 2018
Date Written: April 4, 2018
Abstract
Article 50 TEU is a treaty provision acknowledging the right of Member States to withdraw from the EU and the home of a specific procedure to make it happen. The article demonstrates that it also constitutes the legal basis of an exceptional Union competence whose purpose is to ensure that the departure of a member is “orderly”. This qualification not only entails the conclusion of an agreement between the parties on the terms of the withdrawal, it also presupposes that such withdrawal does not undermine the integrity of the EU legal order, while contributing to the fulfilment of the Union’s integration objective. Indeed, the unprecedented exercise of that competence has enriched the law of European integration: core components of the constitutional identity of the EU have been (re)affirmed, the role of its institutions bolstered, and Union membership law further articulated. Paradoxically, withdrawal may therefore be envisaged as an integration-friendly process.
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