Brexit ~ Article 50 Extension requested

Updated 21 March

With just 9 days left to "Exit Day" (29 March), the Prime Minister has sent a letter to the President of the EU Council requesting an extension of Article 50 up to 30 June 2019 - a date which will avoid the UK having to participate in elections to the European Parliament.  The elections take place in May.

The letter has been published on the No. 10 Downing Street website and is reproduced below.

A key sentence in the letter reads:  'I also intend to bring forward further domestic proposals that confirm my previous commitments to protect our internal market, given the concerns expressed about the backstop.'   Those proposals have yet to be announced.

The letter:

Notes:

1. The requested extension has to be agreed unanimously by the European Council.  Their response is awaited.  Note - 22 May is a possible extension - BBC News 21 March.

2. If an extension is granted, the government will have to bring forward a Statutory Instrument to amend the definition of "Exit Day" in the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018.  The instrument will require the approval of both Houses of Parliament.

3.  Speech at Grimsby 8 March 2019

4.  The Withdrawal Agreement, Political Declaration and Supplementary Documents

5.  Some lawyers have raised the question  of the Prime Minister's power to request an extension - see previous post.

Update 21 March:

The decision to seek the Article 50 extension was announced from Downing Street and not, as is the usual practice, by way of a Statement in the House of Commons.

The PM's Statement may be read HERE or viewed HERE.

The reaction by Donald Tusk is here -

The following debates in the House of Commons on 20 March are worth noting:

Emergency Debate (under SO 24) - Article 50 Extension

No Deal EU Exit Preparations and see The Guardian 20 March 

Debate about the "Joint Committee" which the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) would put in place

IF the WA ever comes into force - and it has already been rejected twice - the Joint Committee will have considerable powers.  In this earlier post I looked at the Joint Committee and its powers and, in particular, its power under Article 166 of the WA.  I commented -   

Article 166 is a particularly important power granted to the Joint Committee - a power to make decisions binding on the Union and the UK.  At least to my mind, it is remarkable that this power has not attracted concern among politicians at Westminster and elsewhere.  When a draft agreement appeared back in March it was noted in this post that - "The Joint Committee will clearly be very powerful given its power to bind the EU and the UK.  There appears to be no provision here for the involvement of the UK Parliament or, for that matter, the European Parliament.  Politicians would do well to pay particular attention to this.