释义 |
Article 50 A provision of the Treaty on European Union that sets out the procedure to be followed if a member state wishes to withdraw from the Union. Article 50 provides that if a member state decides to withdraw “in accordance with its own constitutional requirements”, it should serve a notice of that intention, and that the treaties which govern the EU “shall cease to apply” to that state within two years thereafter. Following the result in the UK’s Referendum on Continued Membership of the European Union, HM Government stated its intention to invoke Article 50, thus beginning the process of withdrawal. However, in R (on the application of Miller and another) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2017] UKSC 5 (see (No. 1)">Miller’s case (No. 1)) the Supreme Court ruled that this could not be done without Act of Parliament. The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 was passed and the UK gave notice by letter dated 29 March 2017. The Article 50 process was completed when the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 (see Brexit). |