# European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017

Part of a series of articles on :
Brexit :
Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union
Glossary of terms :
Background
European Communities Act
1975 EC membership referendum
UK rebate
Bruges speech
No. No. No.
Maastricht Rebels
Black Wednesday
European Union (Amendment) Act 2008
European Union Act 2011
UK opt-outs from EU legislation
Euroscepticism in the UK
UK opinion polling on EU membership
Campaigns for a referendum
People's Pledge
Labour for a Referendum
Bloomberg speech
In or Out
2013–14 EU (Referendum) Bill (unsuccessful)
2014 European Parliament election
2014 UK Parliament by-elections
Clacton
Heywood and Middleton
Rochester and Strood
2015 UK general election
2015–16 EU membership renegotiation :
2016 EU referendum
EU Referendum Act (Gibraltar)
EU Referendum (Date of Referendum etc.) Regulations
EU Referendum (Conduct) Regulations
Issues
Endorsements
Opinion polling
UK Government pro-EU leaflet
Campaigns
Leave campaigns
Vote Leave (official)
Business for Britain
Conservatives for Britain
BeLeave
Leave.EU
Bpoplive
The Freedom Association
Better Off Out
Grassroots Out
Labour Leave
Get Britain Out
Bruges Group
Campaign for an Independent Britain
Brexit: The Movie
Remain campaigns
Britain Stronger in Europe (official)
Labour In for Britain
European Movement UK
Britain in Europe
British Influence
Business for New Europe
Nucleus
Project Fear
Outcome
Results
Causes for result
International reactions
Immediate aftermath
2016 Conservative Party election
2016 Labour Party election
2016 UKIP election
Department for Exiting the EU
Department for International Trade
Allegations of unlawful campaigning
Alleged Russian interference :
Notice of withdrawal
Article 50 process
Miller case (Article 50)
EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017
Brexit plan
Repeal Bill plan
2017 UK general election :
Negotiations
Negotiation positions
EU negotiation mandate
Chequers agreement
Timeline: 2017, 2018, 2019
2019 European Parliament election
2019 UK general election :
Withdrawal agreement
Brexit divorce bill
Fish for finance
Irish backstop
No-deal Brexit
Northern Ireland Protocol
Northern Ireland Protocol Bill
Windsor Framework :
Legislation
Withdrawal Act 2018 (Gibraltar)
Nuclear Safeguards Act 2018
Cooper–Letwin Act
Benn Act
2019 suspension of rebel Conservative MPs
Public Vote Bill (not passed)
Terms of Withdrawal Bills (not passed)
Scottish EU Continuity Bill (blocked)
Withdrawal Agreement Act (Gibraltar)
Scottish EU Continuity Act
Internal Market Act
EU (Future Relationship) Act
Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill :
Impact
Impact on the Irish border
Good Friday Agreement
Impact on the EU
Economic effects
Effects on Gibraltar
Scientific cooperation
Effects on popular culture
Retained EU law
2021 Jersey dispute :
EU–UK relations
Relations pre- and post-Brexit
EU–UK trade negotiation
EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA)
Partnership Council
Partnership Assembly
Relations with EU member states
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Ireland–UK border
British–Irish Council
North/South Ministerial Council
Italy
Lithuania
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Spain
Status of Gibraltar
Gibraltar–Spain border
Sweden
Conjectured EEA membership :
Opposition
Post-referendum opinion polling
New initiatives
Change Britain
More United
Open Britain
The New European
Unite to Remain
Led By Donkeys
Revoke Article 50 petition
Postcards from the 48%
Proposed second Scottish independence referendum
Calls for a second referendum
People's Vote
Britain for Europe
European Movement UK
For our Future's Sake
Healthier IN the EU
InFacts
Open Britain
Our Future Our Choice
Scientists for EU
Other organisations
Best for Britain
Bollocks to Brexit
Change UK
Liberal Democrats
Right to Vote :
Timeline Bloomberg speech Jan 2013 Referendum Bill blockedJan 2014 European Parliament election May 2014 2015 general election May 2015 Renegotiation begins Jun 2015 Referendum Act passed Dec 2015 Renegotiation concluded Feb 2016 Referendum held Jun 2016 David Cameron resigns as PM Jul 2016 Theresa May becomes PM Jul 2016 Article 50 judgement Jan 2017 Brexit plan presentedFeb 2017 Notification Act passed Mar 2017 Article 50 invoked Mar 2017 Repeal Bill plan presentedMar 2017 2017 general election Jun 2017 Brexit negotiations begin Jun 2017 Withdrawal Act passedJun 2018 Chequers plan presented Jul 2018 Withdrawal agreement plan presented July 2018 Withdrawal agreement released Nov 2018 Scottish Continuity Bill blockedDec 2018 Meaningful votes Jan–Mar 2019 Brexit delayed until 12 April Mar 2019 Cooper–Letwin Act passed Apr 2019 Brexit delayed until 31 October Apr 2019 European Parliament election May 2019 Theresa May resigns as PM Jul 2019 Boris Johnson becomes PM Jul 2019 Prorogation and annulment Aug–Sep 2019 Benn Act passed Sep 2019 Withdrawal agreement revised Oct 2019 Brexit delayed until 31 January Oct 2019 2019 general election Dec 2019 Agreement Act passed Jan 2020 UK leaves the European Union Jan 2020 Implementation period begins Jan 2020 UK–EU trade deal agreed Dec 2020 Future Relationship Act passed Dec 2020 Scottish Continuity Act passed Dec 2020 Implementation period ends Dec 2020 New EU–UK relationship begins Jan 2021 UK–EU trade deal ratified Apr 2021 Windsor Framework released Feb 2023 Windsor framework adopted Mar 2023 :
EU portal
UK portal :
vte :
The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 (c. 9) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to empower the Prime Minister to give to the Council of the European Union the formal notice – required by Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union – for starting negotiations for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. It was passed following the result of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum held on 23 June in which 51.9% of voters voted to leave the European Union.

## The Act

   "(1) The Prime Minister may notify, under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the United Kingdom's intention to withdraw from the EU." (2) This section has effect despite any provision made by or under the European Communities Act 1972 or any other enactment."
   "Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements."
The Act's long title is To Confer power on the Prime Minister to notify, under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the United Kingdom's intention to withdraw from the EU. The Act confers on the Prime Minister the power to give the notice required under the Treaty when a member state decides to withdraw. Section 1(2) states that no provision of the European Communities Act 1972 or other enactment prevents the (notification) act taking effect.
The Act's first reading as a bill in Parliament was on 26 January 2017, after the Supreme Court, in the Miller case, dismissed the government's appeal against the High Court's declaratory order, dated 7 November 2016, that "The Secretary of State does not have power under the Crown's prerogative to give notice pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union for the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union." David Davis, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, formally introduced the bill for first reading in the House of Commons, and two days in the following week were allocated for the second reading debate.

## Progress through Parliament
### House of Commons

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "I am asking all our MPs not to block Article 50 and make sure it goes through next week". However, several Labour MPs were intending to rebel against the whip, including several of Corbyn's fellow opposition frontbenchers.
The vote for the bill's second reading was carried on 1 February by 498 to 114, and the bill was committed to a Committee of the Whole House, with a three-day programme for the conclusion of all proceedings up to and including third reading. 47 of 229 Labour MPs voted against the bill (in defiance of the party's three-line whip), including 10 junior shadow ministers and 3 whips from the party. One Conservative (Kenneth Clarke) voted against the bill, and 2 of the 9 Liberal Democrat MPs abstained. Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary whose constituency voted to remain in the EU, was accused of having "Brexit flu" as she did not attend the vote on Article 50 due to illness, despite attending a debate in Westminster Hall three hours before the vote.
In the parliamentary debates on the bill before enactment, members expressed concerns about the prospective effects on trade and the economy, financial services, and research and innovation policy and the rights of British citizens in or entering the EU, and EU citizens in or entering the UK.
The House of Commons agreed to hold the Committee stage on 6, 7 and 8 February, followed by the report stage and third reading on 8 February. Topics covered by the amendments submitted by MPs and selected for debate at the Committee stage included: Parliamentary scrutiny, the devolved administrations (Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), and the status of citizens of the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA) (and also that of Swiss nationals) in the UK, and that of expatriate British citizens in other parts of the EU and the EEA outside the UK (and also in Switzerland). All amendments were withdrawn or outvoted in Committee.
At third reading, the Commons passed the bill by 494 to 122 on 8 February 2017, and the bill was sent for debate in the House of Lords.
On 17 February 2017 the House of Commons Library issued a briefing paper on "Parliament's role in ratifying treaties", which quoted David Jones, Minister of State for Exiting the EU, as confirming in the debate the government's commitment to bringing forward a motion, for the approval of both Houses, that will cover the withdrawal agreement and the future relationship with the European Union, and as stating that the government expected and intended this will be before the European Parliament debates and votes on the final agreement.

### House of Lords

Before adjourning on 8 February 2017, the House of Lords gave the bill, as brought from the Commons, a first reading. The House of Lords announced that Lord Bridges of Headley would move the bill's second reading for debate on 20 and 21 February, and that the Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Evans of Bowes Park) would move that Standing Orders be dispensed with so as to allow manuscript amendments to be tabled and moved for the third reading.
   "Within three months of exercising the power under section 1(1), Ministers of the Crown must bring forward proposals to ensure that citizens of another European Union or European Economic Area country and their family members, who are legally resident in the United Kingdom on the day on which this Act is passed, continue to be treated in the same way with regards to their EU derived-rights and, in the case of residency, their potential to acquire such rights in the future."
In the second reading debate, one of the cross bench peers, Lord Hope, who had been a Supreme Court Justice from 2009 until his retirement in 2013, mentioned that the wording of the bill sufficed for giving notice of withdrawal, as the Supreme Court's decision in the Miller case required, but it said nothing about the process of the two further stages stated in article 50: negotiation, and the concluding of an agreement between the Union and the state that was withdrawing.
At the end of the second reading debate the House agreed that the bill would be considered by a committee of the whole house. This was timetabled for 27 February and 1 March 2017.
On 1 March, the House of Lords, debating in Committee, made an amendment to protect EU nationals living in the UK regardless of the rights of British nationals continuing to live in member states of the EU. The amendment was voted for by 358 with 256 against. Eight other major amendments were rejected. The amendment adds to the bill a requirement that the government will introduce proposals within three months of the withdrawal notification to ensure EU citizens in the UK have the same residence rights after Brexit as before. Published statistics show many more EU nationals live in the UK (the greater numbers coming from Poland and the Republic of Ireland) than British nationals living in other EU member states (the greater numbers in Spain and the Republic of Ireland). After the Committee debate, the bill was formally reported to the House with the amendment.
The House of Lords announced that the report stage would continue on 7 March, and, if concluded, the bill's third reading would be on the same day.
In advance of the continuation of debate, the House of Lords published on 4 March a report discussing financial and legal complexities involved in negotiating withdrawal, including settlement of outstanding financial liabilities and division of assets. The report stated that if there is no post-Brexit deal at the end of the two-year negotiating period, the UK could withdraw without payment of a "divorce bill" to the EU.
At report stage on 7 March 2017, the Lords voted against the government for a second amendment (passed by 366 votes to 268), adding a new clause to the bill, headed "Parliamentary approval for the outcome of negotiations with the European Union". Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, opposing the amendment, compared it to Gulliver, in trying to tie down the Prime Minister—by hair, arms and legs—in order to prevent her from getting an agreement for the UK before leaving the European Union. The new clause was:
    "(1) The Prime Minister may not conclude an agreement with the European Union under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, on the terms of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, without the approval of both Houses of Parliament. (2) Such approval shall be required before the European Parliament debates and votes on that agreement. (3) The prior approval of both Houses of Parliament shall also be required in relation to an agreement on the future relationship of the United Kingdom with the European Union. (4) The prior approval of both Houses of Parliament shall also be required in relation to any decision by the Prime Minister that the United Kingdom shall leave the European Union without an agreement as to the applicable terms.".
At third reading, the Lords rejected a proposal presented by the Liberal Democrats for the Lords to decline "to allow the bill to pass, because the bill does not provide a mechanism for the people of the United Kingdom to have a vote, prior to the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union, on the terms of the new relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union". The proposal was outvoted by 340 to 95.
The Lords completed third reading on 7 March and voted to return the bill to the Commons with the two amendments.

### Lords and Commons

The Brexit Secretary, David Davis, stated that the government aimed to overturn the Lords amendments in the House of Commons. On 13 March the Commons voted against the first Lords amendment by 335 to 287 and against the second by 331 to 286. The bill passed both Houses of Parliament unamended.

### Royal assent

The act came into effect when royal assent was signified on the morning of 16 March 2017.

## Notification as authorised

On Wednesday 28 March 2017 with the authority given by the act Prime Minister Theresa May signed a letter that, on the following day, 29 March 2017, was handed to the President of the European Council Donald Tusk in Brussels by Sir Tim Barrow, the Permanent representative of the United Kingdom to the European Union which invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union and started the withdrawal process of the United Kingdom from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community that was also mentioned in the letter, meaning that the UK would become due to leave the EU before midnight on 29 March 2019, British time, when the two-year period for Brexit negotiations expired.
The UK's withdrawal from the EU was ultimately delayed by several months due to difficulties with ratifying an agreement, taking place on 31 January 2020.