Beyond Notification: How to Leave the European Union without Using Article 50 TEU

In legal terms, the referendum on EU membership in the UK is an advisory abrogative referendum. It needs to be given effect, if at all, by the competent authorities, primarily Parliament. Moreover, on all parts there is the desire to fill the void of an abrogation of EU law. This requires an interpretation by all concerned of the referendum results, which British politicians are now fully engaged in. It also requires an interpretation of the relevant constitutional rules and principles that may be involved. Article 50 TEU on the withdrawal from the EU is now reproduced in all major European newspapers, and politicians, journalists and lawyers seem to be attributed a prominent role in this. In this blog I explain that its role is largely overestimated, firstly because whatever meaning it may have, it is subjected to political reality as interpreted by the actors involved, and secondly because it has little legal meaning. I moreover point out that the most obvious interpretation of the referendum result for Scotland may actually make recourse to Article 50 superfluous.