Brexit

Brexit (a portmanteau of "British" and "exit") was the political goal of leaving the European Union voted for by the majority of British people in a referendum in 2016. Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).[a] The UK, which joined the EU's precursors the European Communities (EC) on 1 January 1973, is the only member state to have withdrawn from the EU, although the territories of Algeria (formerly part of France) left in 1976 and Greenland (part of the Kingdom of Denmark) previously left the EC in 1985. Following Brexit, EU law and the Court of Justice of the European Union no longer have primacy over British laws but the UK remains legally bound by obligations in the various treaties it has with other countries around the world, including many with EU member states and indeed with the EU itself. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 retains relevant EU law as domestic law, which the UK can amend or repeal.

History

Background

The reasons for this referendum are many. Firstly, the nation was split when Britain joined the European Economic Community (EEC) or, as it was more commonly known, the Common Market. The people were assured by two British governments, Conservative and Labour, that this was only a trading bloc. However, within 15 years it had transformed itself into a political organisation usurping the national sovereignties of member states, with European Courts, and ordering thousands of unvoted laws to be placed upon the member nations' Statute Books. In particular free movement of people and mass alien immigration became major issues in Britain, already overloaded with migrants. (The UK's population has grown by 10 million since it joined the EEC/EU.) The Conservative Party had always been split over joining the EEC/EU; by the 21st century, national sentiment against the EU, now declaring that its primary aim is a Federal State opposed to nation-states, was fuelled by the rise of the new United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) which, in the 2010 General Elections, gained almost four million votes. This sentiment could no longer be ignored.

The Referendum

On 23 June 2016, in a referendum, Britons voted 51.9% to Leave the European Union, with 48.1% wishing to Remain. The turnout was 72.2% - more than 30 million people voted. The British Prime Minister David Cameron, who had campaigned for a Remain result, resigned in July as a result of this humiliation.

Process

The exact process for the UK's withdrawal is laid down in legislation of both parties. Brexit negotiations in 2018 took place between the United Kingdom and the European Union for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union following the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum on 23 June 2016. The negotiating period began on 29 March 2017 when the United Kingdom served the withdrawal notice under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The period for negotiation stated in Article 50 is two years from notification, unless an extension is agreed. In March 2019, British prime minister Theresa May and European leaders negotiated a two-week delay for the Parliament of the United Kingdom to agree on the government's Brexit treaty, moving the date from 29 March 2019 to 12 April 2019. Negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union regarding Brexit began in June 2017, with the following negotiations taking place during 2018.

Brexit negotiations in 2019 started in August, after having originally concluded in November 2018 with the release of the withdrawal agreement. Negotiations took place between the United Kingdom and the European Union during 2017 and 2018 for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union following the referendum held on 23 June 2016. The Benn Act, passed by the UK Parliament in September 2019, required the prime minister to seek a further extension if by 19 October, Parliament had not given its consent to either a deal, in a "meaningful vote", or a no-deal Brexit.

On 28 October 2019, the departure date was moved back to 2020. Following the 2019 UK general election, which resulted in a landslide victory for Boris Johnson's Conservative Party, the withdrawal agreement was ratified by the UK Parliament on 23 January 2020, and the European Parliament gave its consent to the agreement on 29 January 2020, before Exit Day, on 31 January 2020.