The Role of Parliaments in Brexit Negotiations

Abstract

Negotiations on a withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) have advanced and the European Parliament (EP), as the responsible legislative body according to article 50, will have to ratify an eventual agreement on the UK’s withdrawal. National parliaments (NPs) also started scrutinizing these negotiations. If the agreement on future UK-EU relations becomes a mixed agreement (as it is the most likely scenario) then NPs will need to ratify it. Yet, public debate and scholarly activity has so far centered on the EU’s institutions, national governments or the UK’s parliament. Little attention has been paid to parliaments in other member states than the UK. This is even though the German Bundestag, for example, has already declared its view that it has a right to participate in the negotiations. Parliamentary involvement has a normative dimension, since questions on the democratic legitimacy of the final deal may be raised but there are also theoretical concerns: Brexit negotiations construct a typical Putnam's two level games and, in cases of de-alignment between the negotiating government and the majority in parliament, instances of defection may emerge risking the whole exercise. This panel aims at discussing the extent to which and why NPs are involved in Brexit affairs. Why are some NPs more involved in the Brexit negotiations than others? We are interested in presenting national cases as well as the EP.