At the time of its withdrawal from the EU, the UK`s relationship with the EU was governed by the Withdrawal Agreement, an international treaty negotiated between the UK and the EU during the withdrawal period. Following an unprecedented vote on 4 December 2018, MEPs decided that the UK government had ignored Parliament for refusing to give Parliament the full legal opinion it had received on the impact of the proposed withdrawal conditions. [29] The key point of the Recommendation concerned the legal effect of the „backstop“ agreement for Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the UK with regard to the EU-UK customs border and its impact on the Good Friday Agreement that had led to an end to the unrest in Northern Ireland – and in particular whether the UK would be safe, to be able to leave the EU in a practical sense, according to the proposed plans. The Withdrawal Agreement also contains provisions allowing the United Kingdom to let the United Kingdom link the Statute of the European Schools to the United Kingdom by the Convention and the accompanying rules for accredited European Schools until the end of the last academic year of the transition period, i.e. until the end of the 2020-2021 spring semester. [20] The Withdrawal Agreement also includes a Protocol on the Sovereign Base Areas of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Cyprus and a Protocol on Gibraltar, which regulates the specific issues raised by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU in relation to Gibraltar. Finland was represented in the European Council by the Prime Minister and in the General Affairs Council by the Minister for European Affairs. In addition, an ad hoc group on Article 50 has been set up, composed of experts from the Member States, to assist the Council in the withdrawal negotiations. The working group met weekly in Brussels. The UK`s formal withdrawal from the EU entered into force on 31 January 2020 (withdrawal day) at 11pm.m. At that time, the withdrawal period provided for in Article 50 TEU ended and the ratified Withdrawal Agreement, which sets out the legal conditions for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, entered into force. The ratified Withdrawal Agreement was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on the day of withdrawal together with the Political Declaration on the framework for the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU: negotiations on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom took place in two tranches. A first draft of the withdrawal agreement was finalised by Theresa May`s government in November 2018.

Background information is available at: The Withdrawal Agreement provides for a transition period until 31 December 2020, during which the UK will remain in the Single Market to ensure smooth trade until a long-term relationship is agreed. If no agreement is reached by that date, the UK will leave the single market on 1 January 2021 without a trade agreement. A non-binding political declaration on the future relationship between the EU and the UK is closely linked to the Withdrawal Agreement. As regards the Irish border issue, a Northern Ireland Protocol (the „backstop“) annexed to the Agreement sets out a fallback position that will only enter into force if effective alternative arrangements cannot be demonstrated before the end of the transition period. If this happens, the UK will follow the EU`s common external tariff and Northern Ireland will retain some aspects of the single market until such a demonstration is achieved. None of the parties can unilaterally withdraw from this customs union. The aim of this backstop agreement is to avoid a „hard“ border in Ireland where customs controls are necessary. [19] The WAB transposes Boris Johnson`s withdrawal agreement, which is a draft international treaty, into British law and gives the government permission to ratify it. The relevant clauses were removed from the bill before it was passed following an agreement between the UK and the EU on a number of issues related to the implementation of the protocol. The British Parliament approved the draft agreement at the time by passing the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 on 23 January 2020.

Following the signing of the Agreement, the Government of the United Kingdom published and deposited the British Instrument of Ratification of the Agreement on 29 January 2020. [7] [8] The agreement was ratified by the Council of the European Union on 30 January 2020, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament on 29 January 2020. The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union entered into force on 31 January 2020 at 11 .m GMT, and on that date the Withdrawal Agreement under Article 185 entered into force. The Withdrawal Agreement, which comprises 599 pages, covers the following main areas:[16] The Agreement defines goods, services and related processes. It argues that any goods or services lawfully placed on the market before leaving the Union may continue to be made available to consumers in the United Kingdom or in the Member States of the European Union (Articles 40 and 41). Provisions on bilateral cooperation in the fields of citizens` rights, certain products, the environment, police and customs, as well as a bilateral agreement on taxation and the protection of financial interests. The UK submitted its withdrawal notice to the EU on 29 March 2017. This triggered a withdrawal procedure within the meaning of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.

Negotiations ended on 17 October 2019. On 28 October 2019, the EU granted the requested extension of the withdrawal period and the following day, the General Early Parliamentary Elections Act 2019 was passed by the House of Commons and received Royal Assent on 31 October 2019. Parliament was dissolved on 6 November 2019 and the MCA fell after making no further progress since its second reading. The Withdrawal Agreement has therefore not been ratified by either the UK or the EU. The Northern Ireland Protocol, known as the „Irish backstop“, was an annex to the November 2018 draft agreement that outlined provisions to prevent a hard border in Ireland following the United Kingdom`s withdrawal from the European Union. .