Academic Director gives evidence at the European Parliament

Professor Piet Eeckhout, Academic Director of the European Institute, appeared before a European Parliament committee on Tuesday 20th June to discuss the legal and constitutional aspects of Brexit.

The European Institute's Academic Director, and the incoming Dean of the UCL Faculty of Laws, Professor Piet Eeckhout, gave evidence to the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) on Tuesday 20th June.

Discussing the legal and constitutional aspects of Britain's withdrawal from the EU, Professor Eeckhout noted that, in contrast to the prevailing wisdom in Brussels, there is sufficient scope in Article 50 for it to be utilised, at least in part, as the basis for a future agreement on the UK's relationship with the EU. This, he noted, is at odds with the narrower interpretation of Article 50, which currently forms the basis of the EU's insistance that any withdrawal agreement be kept seperate from decisions on the UK's future relationship with the EU, but which is not justified under a constitutionalist reading of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TEU).

Professor Eeckhout's evidence can be viewed here from 14:24:00 to 14:42:20. A copy of the working paper in which some of these remarks first appeared, co-authored with Dr Eleni Frantziou, can also be found here.