The Cortes Generales, the Government and Brexit: The role of the Cortes Generales concerning the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union

Abstract

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union – Brexit – is a serious problem that conditions both the political life and the economic dynamics of the Union, but also those of its Member States. Spain, due to its special economic – and also human – relationship with United Kingdom, is one of the EU Member States that might be more dramatically affected by the UK’s withdrawal. The Spanish parliament – Cortes Generales – have a parliamentary instrument to supervise the Government’s activity concerning the EU: the Joint Committee for the European Union. This article analyzes how the Government-Cortes relationships concerning the Brexit issue have taken place, as much in legal-formal terms as in political and substantial terms. In this Government-Cortes relationship concerning Brexit, the Joint Committee for the EU and also the Congress of Deputies have played a fundamental role. This article, which covers the X, XI and XII legislatures, includes also a quantitative and a qualitative analysis of these Government-Cortes relations concerning Brexit.