The seminar takes place on 22 March, 15.00 - 16.30 hr. 

The Decision concerning a New Settlement for the United Kingdom within the European Union may be found here. 

Abstract of the presentation 

On 19 February 2016 the Heads of State of Government, meeting within the European Council, agreed on a Decision concerning a New Settlement for the United Kingdom within the European Union.  The Decision will take effect only on the date that the UK informs the Secretary-General of the Council that the United Kingdom has decided to remain a member of the EU.  Moreover, the accompanying European Council conclusions make clear that, should the result of the referendum in the United Kingdom be for it to leave the European Union, the arrangements set out in the Decision will cease to exist.

The presentation will look at the institutional process that led to this Decision of the Heads of State or Government, at the form the Decision takes and will give an overview of its content.

Some selected critical reactions about the Decision 

On the politics of the Decision, the Centre for European Policy Studies, which refers to the Decision as "the EU Deal to avoid Brexit", comments as follows:

"Beyond the drama of the European Council summit of 18-19 February 2016, what became clear was the fundamental desire on the part of the leaders of all 28 EU member states to agree a deal on the British government’s demands for a renegotiated settlement on the UK’s relationship within the European Union. The deal has provided David Cameron with the political capital he needed to call a date for the in/out referendum and to lead a campaign for the UK to stay in the EU. Yet, for all the technical reforms packed into it, the deal is neither a crowd pleaser nor a vote winner". https://www.ceps.eu/publications/eu-deal-avoid-brexit-take-it-or-leave.

In terms of the content of the Decision, the Centre for European Reform has the following description: …"the package is a collection of modest reforms that set out some principles for achieving a more competitive European economy, clarifying the relationship between the eurozone and the member-states outside the monetary union, curbing migrants’ access to welfare a little, giving national parliaments a small stake in EU law-making and spelling out that Britain has a special status within the EU. https://www.cer.org.uk/insights/deal-done-now-hard-work

On the legal impact of the Decision, Professor Steve Peers comments as follows: "…while the title of the deal refers to the UK only, none of the actual text of the deal applies solely to the UK. So it would apply to all Member States. That means it’s possible, for instance, that a proposal which the UK supports could be stymied by other Member States’ national parliaments (via the Council), using the new ‘red card’ for national parliaments objecting to EU proposals. It is possible, however, that the UK would be the only Member State aiming to implement some parts of the renegotiation deal, in particular the ‘emergency brake’ on benefits; and of course some of the existing opt-outs referred to in the deal only apply to the UK and one or two other Member States". http://eulawanalysis.blogspot.be/2016/02/the-final-ukeu-renegotiation-deal-legal.html" ​

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