Professor Piet Eeckhout speaks about Brexit at European Parliament Committee

Professor Piet Eeckhout, Deputy-Dean, Vice Dean (Staffing) and Professor of EU Law at UCL Faculty of Laws, spoke at the European Parliament Committee during the hearing on “Brexit: constitutional challenges and implications” on 20 June 2017.

Professor Eeckhout’s intervention focused on a number of constitutional and legal issues connected with the withdrawal agreement which the UK just started to negotiate with the EU.  He argued that the scope of that agreement is uncertain, and that, as a matter of law, its scope could be wider than is generally assumed, and could encompass aspects of the future relationship with the EU.

Professor Eeckhout said:

‘The need for the European Parliament’s consent to the agreement means that the Parliament could say no, and send the negotiators back, without this meaning that the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal.’

Professor Eeckhout also questioned the idea that the ECJ should have jurisdiction over the withdrawal agreement as difficult to implement.

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