The complications of a Brexit delay that runs into the European Parliament elections

In the corridors of the Palace of Westminster and in those of the Union’s institutions, the air is rife with talk about extending the two-year period under Article 50 TEU. Both decision-makers and commentators regularly point out that delaying Brexit would be problematic if the delay ran into the upcoming European elections. It is worth taking a closer look to see just how problematic that would indeed be.

Firstly, the UK would have to hold European elections in May, or some other way to ensure representation of Union citizens living in the UK would have to be devised.

Secondly, Brexit delayed into the new parliamentary term, which starts on 2 July 2019, would render the composition of the European Parliament incompatible with the requirements of Article 14(2) TEU, an incompatibility that is very hard to justify and nearly impossible to address.