EU Court Rules That The UK Can Unilaterally End Brexit

The European Court of Justice has ruled that that member states can withdraw unilaterally from leaving the EU while they are still in the negotiating period. The court found that if the UK does decide to revoke Article 50 and stop the Brexit process it would remain in the EU as a member state and the revocation must be decided following "democratic process". A spokeswoman for the court said: "In today's judgment, the Full Court has ruled that, when a Member State has notified the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the European Union, as the UK has done, that Member State is free to revoke unilaterally that notification. “That possibility exists for as long as a withdrawal agreement concluded between the EU and that member state has not entered into force or, if no such agreement has been concluded, for as long as the two-year period from the date of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, and any possible extension, has not expired.”

It added: “The revocation must be decided following a democratic process in accordance with national constitutional requirements. This unequivocal and unconditional decision must be communicated in writing to the European Council.”

The ECJ ruling comes ahead of tomorrow’s crunch vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon responded to the ruling on Twitter by saying: "So an extension of Article 50 to allow time for another vote, followed by revocation of Article 50 if the outcome is Remain seems to be an option that is now open to the House of Commons. " Image caption A group of politicians brought the case including (from top left) Catherine Stihler MEP; Joanna Cherry MP; David Martin MEP; (from bottom left) Alyn Smith MEP; Ross Greer MSP and Andy Wightman MSP

Both the UK government and the EU had been against it going to the ECJ. They argued that unilateral revocation is possible and believe it could pave the way for an alternative option to Brexit, such as a People's Vote to enable remaining in the EU. Lawyers representing the Council of the European Union and from the European Commission meanwhile argued that revocation is possible but would require unanimous agreement from all member states. The case was originally heard by the Court of Session in Edinburgh and two attempts by the UK Government to appeal against the referral to the European Court were rejected.
The Court of Justice of the European Union rules that an EU member state's invocation of Article 50 TEU is unilaterally revokable.