16/06/2016 00:00
TW
0

Dear Sir,
You say today: "That there is a real possibility that by the end of this month Britain will be out of the European Union." I doubt this, whatever the result of the referendum. May I quote Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty:

1. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements."

"Member State" in this context clearly means that State’s Government. So there is no legal requirement on the Government to initiate the withdrawal immediately or indeed ever. Even if it should do so the Treaty provides for a period of two years for negotiation of a withdrawal agreement after the decision to withdraw. So it could easily be two years or more before Britain would be "out of the European Union".

Regards,
Bryan Oliver
Camp de Mar