Centre William Rappard     Rue de Lausanne 154    Case postale    CH - 1211 Genève 2  
 Téléphone: (+41 22) 739 51 11    Fax: (+41 22) 731 42 06  
Internet: http://www.wto.org  
) Reference:    WLI/100  29 January 2020  
MARRAKESH AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING  
THE WORLD TRADE ORGA NIZATION  
DONE AT MARRAKESH ON  15 APRIL 1994  
COMMUNICATION FROM T HE EUROPEAN UNION  
 
I have the honour to inform you that on 27 January 2020, the European Union deposited with 
me a Note Verbale, the Annex of which reads as follows:  
 
 
"Annex to the Note Verbale on the Agreement on the withdrawal  
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and No rthern Ireland from  
the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community  
 
1.  On 29 March 2017, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Northern Ireland (the "United Kingdom") notified the European Council of the 
United  Kingdom's intention to withdraw from the European Union ("Union") and the 
European Atomic Energy C ommunity ("Euratom") in accordance with Article 50 of the 
Treaty on European Union. On 22  March  2019, the European Council decided in 
agreement with the United Kingdom to extend the period provided for in Article 50(3) 
of the Treaty on European Union until  12 April 2019. On 10 April 2019, 
the European  Council decided in agreement with the United Kingdom to extend the 
period provided for in Article 50(3) of the Treaty on European Union until 31 October 
2019. On  29 October 2019, the European  Council decided i n agreement with the 
United  Kingdom to extend the period provided for in Article 50(3) of the Treaty on 
European Union until 31 January 2020. The United Kingdom will therefore cease to be 
a Member State of the European Union and of Euratom on 1 February 20 20. 
2.  On 24 January 2020, the Union and Euratom, and the United Kingdom, in accordance 
with Article  50, paragraph  2, of the Treaty on European Union, signed an Agreement 
setting out the arrangements for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union  
and Euratom ("Withdrawal  Agreement")1. The Withdrawal Agreement will enter into 
force on 1 February 2020, subject to its prior ratification by the United Kingdom and 
conclusion by the Union and Euratom.  
3.  In order to address the specific situation of th e withdrawal of the United Kingdom 
from the Union and Euratom , the Withdrawal Agreement provides for a time -limited 
transition period during which, save certain  very limited exceptions, Union law shall be 
applicable to and in the United  Kingdom and that an y reference to Member States in 
Union law, including as implemented and applied by Member States, shall be understood 
as including the United Kingdom.  
4.  The Union and Euratom, and the United Kingdom have agreed that Union law within 
the meaning  of the Withdrawal  Agreement encompasses international agreements 
concluded by the Union (or  Euratom), or by Member States acting on behalf of the Union 
(or Euratom), or by the Union (or  Euratom) and its Member States jointly.  
 
1 The text of the Withdrawal Agreement can be consulted in the Official Journal of the European Union of 
12 November 2019, C 384 I, p. 1.  Centre William Rappard    Rue de Lausanne 154    Case postale    CH - 1211 Genève 2  
 Téléphone: (+41 22) 739 51 11    Fax: (+41 22) 731 42 06  
Internet: http://www.wto.org  5.  Subject to timely ratification and conclusion of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Union 
and Euratom notify parties to the international agreements referred to in point 4 above 
that, during the transition period, the United Kingdom is treated as a Member State of 
the Union and of Euratom for th e purposes of these international agreements.  
6.  It is understood that the principles set out in this Annex also extend to international 
instruments and arrangements without legally binding force entered into by the Union 
or Euratom and to international a greements referred to in point 4 above which are 
provisionally applied.  
7.  The provisions relating to the transition period are laid down in Part Four 
(Articles  126 to 132) of the Withdrawal Agreement, to be read in conjunction with the 
other relevant pro visions of the Withdrawal Agreement, in particular its Part One.  
8.  The transition  period starts on 1 February 2020 and ends on 31 December 2020, but 
the Withdrawal Agreement foresees the possibility of adopting a single decision 
extending the transition period for up to 24 months. In the event of an extension, the 
Union and Euratom will communicate this by a further Note Verbale.  
9.  At the end of the transition period, the United Kingdom will no longer be covered by 
the international agreements referred to in points 4 and 6 above. This is without 
prejudice to the status of the United Kingdom in relation to multilateral agreements to 
which it is a party in its own right."  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Roberto Azevêdo  
 Director -General  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20-0691 WT/Let/ 1462