Council Decision (EU) 2020/135 of 30 January 2020 on the conclusion of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community

What it is

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act. BACKGROUND: on 29 March 2017, the United Kingdom notified the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community in accordance with Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. On 22 May 2017, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations with the United Kingdom with a view to concluding an agreement laying down the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking into account the framework of its future relations with the Union. The agreement was negotiated in the light of the European Council's guidelines and in accordance with the Council's negotiating directives and with the European Parliament's resolutions of 5 April 2017 , 3 October 2017 , 13 December 2017 and 14 March 2018 . On 14 November 2018, negotiators for the European Commission and the United Kingdom reached agreement on the full withdrawal agreement and on the broad lines of the political declaration on future relations between the EU and the United Kingdom. An agreement on future relations between the Union and the United Kingdom can only be concluded after the United Kingdom has become a third country. However, Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union requires that the framework for future relations with the Union be taken into account in the agreement setting out the arrangements for withdrawal. The European Parliament adopted by 621 votes to 49, with 13 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community. Parliament gave its consent to the conclusion of the withdrawal agreement. The Agreement provides for an orderly withdrawal which is the goal the EU and the UK negotiators have pursued over the past three years. It contains a section on citizens' rights, a section on financial obligations and a Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland with annexes. As regards the issue of the role of the Court of Justice, the withdrawal agreement provides for its jurisdiction at different levels. Through its resolutions of 5 April 2017 , 3 October 2017 , 13 December 2017 , 14 March 2018 and 18 September 2019 , Parliament has gradually established its interpretation of the provisions of Article 50 of the EU Treaty, including a number of fundamental requirements with regard to the scope and timing of the negotiations. NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Decision (EU) 2020/135 on the conclusion of the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community. CONTENT: the Council adopted the decision on the conclusion of the withdrawal agreement on behalf of the EU. The Agreement sets out the arrangements for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and ensures an orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union. It covers citizens'…

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