People are going around saying that Article 50 Paragraph 3 states:
"All the Treaties shall cease to apply”
As fact-checking goes, this isn't hard to disprove...
"All the Treaties shall cease to apply”
As fact-checking goes, this isn't hard to disprove...
You really just have to read Article 50 and it’s very clear it does not say “All the Treaties”, and it actually says very clearly: “The Treaties”.
The word 'all' does not appear.
The word 'all' does not appear.
You might argue at this point that it must mean all the treaties we have, but it doesn’t.
Hidden away in an obscure part of the treaty, and by that I mean “Article 1” 🙄, it defines ‘the Treaties’ as the Treaty of the European Union (TEU) and on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
Which means that Article 50 only goes as far as saying that those 2 treaties cease to apply, and I can't stress enough how important it is to not interpret a single article in isolation.
What happens to the treaties, and the complications around them, is the subject of much discussion. It's actually not that clear-cut.
For example, it can be argued that Article 216 of the TFEU has more bearing on what happens to the treaties. Specifically to those concluded solely by the European Union.
The Territorial application or Geographic scope articles of the deals almost certainly have more relevance, because even if agreements are in effect, they don’t necessarily apply.
It’s worth reading the arguments amongst experts on this subject. The status of the agreements during the transition period being a particularly interesting discussion.
Just remember, Article 50 does not tell us what happens to any treaties other than the TEU and the TFEU.
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