The Withdrawal Agreement and the EU’s International Agreements

This article examines how the UK Withdrawal Agreement handles one of the most important aspects of the EU’s external acquis: its international agreements, and the extent to which the Withdrawal Agreement clarifies the legal implications for those agreements of UK withdrawal from the EU. It is argued that, although the Withdrawal Agreement is not intended to establish the future relationship, the process of “disentanglement” should entail a recognition of the impact of withdrawal from the EU on existing treaty relations with third States, and should enhance legal certainty by providing the basis for a common approach in handling negotiations with those treaty partners. Although the European Council Guidelines and Council negotiation directives recognised this as desirable, it was not translated into Withdrawal Agreement commitments.