Article 50

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Article 50

What is Article 50?

Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (part of the Lisbon Treaty) sets out the procedure for a member state to voluntarily withdraw from the European Union. Invoking Article 50 formally notifies the EU of the member state’s intention to leave and triggers negotiation of a withdrawal agreement and arrangements for the future relationship.

How Article 50 works

  • A withdrawing member state must notify the European Council of its intention to leave.
  • The EU and the withdrawing state negotiate a withdrawal agreement, taking into account the framework for their future relationship.
  • The agreement is negotiated under Article 218(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, concluded by the Council (qualified majority) after obtaining the European Parliament’s consent.
  • If no withdrawal agreement enters into force, the Treaties cease to apply to the state two years after notification, unless the European Council unanimously agrees to extend the period.
  • Representatives of the withdrawing state do not participate in EU Council discussions or decisions concerning its withdrawal.
  • If a state that has withdrawn later seeks to rejoin, it follows the accession procedure under Article 49.

Fast historical note: Algeria left the predecessor European Economic Community after independence (1962) and Greenland left through a special arrangement in 1985.

Special considerations

  • Article 50 provides a process for voluntary withdrawal; it does not include a mechanism to expel a member state. This limitation became apparent during Eurozone crises when leaders debated ways to address a member in severe financial distress.
  • Article 50 applies to leaving the EU; removing a country from the eurozone alone would require different arrangements.
  • Timing and politics matter: the two-year default timetable can be stretched only by unanimous agreement of the European Council and the member state.

Origins

  • The EU evolved from the 1957 European Economic Community, formed to promote economic cooperation after World War II.
  • The Lisbon Treaty (signed in 2007, effective 2009) reorganized EU law to improve efficiency and legitimacy and included Article 50 among its provisions.
  • Article 50 was drafted as a pragmatic exit mechanism rather than a measure anticipated to be widely used.

Example: the United Kingdom (Brexit)

  • The UK held a referendum in June 2016 in which voters chose to leave the EU. The UK government invoked Article 50 in March 2017, initiating the formal withdrawal process.
  • The UK officially left the EU on 31 January 2020 and entered an immediate transition period to negotiate the future relationship.
  • Key issues during and after withdrawal included:
  • trade and tariffs
  • customs and border arrangements (notably Northern Ireland / Republic of Ireland)
  • access to fisheries
  • law enforcement and security cooperation
  • pensions and citizen rights for EU and UK nationals
  • The EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement was announced late December 2020, provisionally applied from 1 January 2021, and completed ratification in 2021, replacing the UK’s participation in the EU single market and customs union.

Key takeaways

  • Article 50 is the formal legal route for an EU member state to withdraw voluntarily.
  • It sets out notification, negotiation, and a default two-year timetable (extendable by unanimous agreement).
  • It does not provide for involuntary expulsion of members and does not directly address eurozone-only issues.
  • The UK’s use of Article 50 (Brexit) is the first practical example of how the process works and the range of political, legal, and practical issues that can arise.