Challenges of the Knowledge Society (May 2019)
BREXIT AND THE ROMANIAN PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION – LEGAL ASPECTS AND POSSIBILITIES
Abstract
The first half of 2019 finds the European Union facing two challenges: the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union is held by Romania, one of the newest members of the organisation, while the United Kingdom prepares to withdraw, after being the first state to invoke, in March 2017, Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. Romania assumes this position of great responsibility for the first time since its accession to the EU and finds itself confronted with a task that has raised problems even for other, more experienced, states that have held the Presidency of the Council after the UK notified the EU of its intention to leave. Moreover, March 2019 marks the end of the two-year term provided by Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union for the enforcement of a withdrawal agreement, placing Romania as President of the Council of the EU at the moment when the UK would be expected to officially lose its status as a Member State, unless an extension is agreed upon by the European Council and the UK. In this context, it is important to take note of the progress made in the matter of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, to identify the legal means the Presidency of the Council has at its disposal to ensure that a satisfying solution is reached and to analyse the role that the Romanian Presidency, specifically, plays in this process.
