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January 2017 : The British Parliament will have to approve the Brexit

According to the Supreme Court, the UK government does not have the power to decide that the UK should withdraw from the EU without the Parliament’s statutory authority to do so.

On January 23, 2017, the British Supreme Court issued its ruling in the matter of the procedure for exiting the European Union (Brexit).

The Supreme Court confirmed the ruling of the London High Court according to which the Parliament must indeed give its consent to trigger Article 50.

On January 26, 2017, Ms Teresa May published a very short Bill to be presented to the Parliament. The 6 lines Bill merely says : “the Prime Minister may notify, under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the United Kingdom’s intention to withdraw from the EU”. Such a short wording is designed to minimize the possibility of amendments from the lower House and the House of Lords.

Debates on the Bill will begin in the House of Commons and the House of Lords on January 31.

The triggering of the Brexit, which Ms May wants to keep by the end of the March 2017, may thus be delayed