BREXIT: IMPACT, CHALLENGES, AND PROSPECTS ON EUROPEAN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

SUMMARY

The referendum of United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union was one of the major promises of the Conservative Party in the UK’s general parliamentary elections in 2015, in which they won. On June 23, 2016, the British people voted in favor of Brexit with a narrow result of 51.9% to 48.1%. England had the highest percentage of Brexit voters, also the Wales with 52.5%, while Scotland was the country with the highest percentage of antiBrexit voters, and then the Northern Ireland with 55,8%.¹ Withdrawal means an act by which a member state of an international organization terminates its membership, as well as the right and circumstances regarding to the right of withdrawal vary depending on the organization. The Lisbon Treaty for the first time defined the possibility of voluntary withdrawal of a member state from the EU through Article 50. Under this article, if a member state decides to leave the EU, initially notifies the European Council for its intention, then the EU negotiates and reaches an agreement with that state, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking account of the framework for its future relationship with the EU.