In the meantime, many “remains” claim that the agreement is much worse than the current conditions of accession and that it does not properly treat future relations. Some want to offer the public the opportunity to reverse the result of the 2016 referendum. Labour`s main opposition says the deal does not meet its six Brexit tests, including a customs union with the EU. The NI protocol, known as “backstop,” is supposed to be temporary and applies unless it is replaced by a future relationship agreement that the parties will attempt to reach by December 31, 2020. The protocol provides that the common travel area and North-South cooperation will continue to a large extent as they do today, as well as the internal electricity market (so that some EU legislation on wholesale electricity markets will continue to apply). The British Parliament must proceed with two authorisation procedures before the UK can ratify the withdrawal agreement. Both the EU Law (Withdrawal Act 2018) and the Constitutional Reform Act 2010 and the Governance Act (CRAG) are obstacles to the UK`s ability to ratify the negotiated agreement. The Withdrawal Act also provides for parliamentary procedure in the event of a rejection of an agreement by the House of Commons or if a negotiated agreement is ever reached. However, since this may not be negotiated before the end of the transition period in December 2020, the EU insisted on the establishment of a “backstop” to avoid a hard border until a free trade agreement comes into force. The dispute over what form this backstop was to take prevented the withdrawal agreement from being sealed for so long. Now that lawmakers have again rejected it and Britain is not taking further action, it would withdraw on 12 April without a deal – an option neither the European Union nor most British lawmakers want. But even if May and her deal survive, which becomes less and less likely, the deal calls for the government to decide before June 2020 whether it wants to extend the transition period, whether it wants to enter the backstop deal in Northern Ireland or if it wants to enter a permanent customs union, all of which would be an abomination for Brexits.

With Mrs May`s promise to resign, approval of the deal would have triggered a battle between the Conservatives over the election of a new leader. By voting on the withdrawal deal, the government had hoped to get a short delay for Brexit and avoid the UK`s participation in the European elections in May. The approval by the British Parliament of the withdrawal agreement was one of the preconditions for the entry into force of its conditions. Without it, the standard legislation was for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union without a deal. Immediately after the announcement of a revised withdrawal agreement on October 17, 2019, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the DUP said they could not support the new agreement. [30] The controversial Irish backstop – the mechanism to ensure the opening of borders on the island of Ireland – was one of the main reasons why MEPs rejected the agreement. Many “outgoings” also claim that the deal entangles the UK too closely with the EU, and some say they would prefer no deal at all. The agreement also provides for a transitional period, which will last until 31 December 2020 and can be extended by mutual agreement. During the transitional period, EU legislation will continue to apply to the UK (including participation in the European Economic Area, the internal market and the customs union) and the UK will continue to contribute to the EU budget, but the UK will not be represented in EU decision-making bodies. The transition period will give businesses time to adapt to the new situation and the new era, so that the British and European governments can negotiate a new trade agreement between the EU and the UK. [17] MEPs rejected Theresa May`s EU withdrawal deal on the day Britain was due to leave the EU.