CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ NO REASON TO PARTY: UNITED KINGDOM AS PARTY TO EU … NO REASON TO PARTY: UNITED KINGDOM AS PARTY TO EU FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS AFTER BREXIT 1 Ondřej Svoboda Abstract: This contribution focuses on legal impacts of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union in the context of free trade agreements concluded by the Union with third countries. The key question is whether the UK will remain a contracting party to the current EU trade agreements. Attempting to answer this question, the paper divides EU trade agreements into exclusive and mixed agreement and subsequently examines UK’s current and future status in these agreements applying rules of interpretation of public international law codified in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties at their content and using various aspects of EU law. Resumé: Tento příspěvek se zaměřuje na právní dopady odchodu Spojeného království z Evropské unie v kontextu dohod o volném obchodu uzavřených Unií se třetími zeměmi. Zásadní otázkou je, zda Spojené království zůstane smluvní stranou obchodních dohod EU. S cílem odpověď na tuto otázku článek rozděluje unijní obchodní dohody na výlučné a smí- šené a následně zkoumá stávající a budoucí status Spojeného království v těch dohodách za použití výkladových pravidel mezinárodního práva veřejného kodifikovaných ve Vídeň- ské úmluvě o smluvním právu na jejich obsah a znalosti různých aspektů evropského práva. Key words: European Union, United Kingdom, Brexit, free trade agreements, exclusive agreements, mixed agreements, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties On the Author: Mgr. Bc. Ondřej Svoboda serves as an officer at the Unit of International Law of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. He graduated from the Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague. He also holds a B.A. degree in International Area Studies from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague. From 2009 to 2010 he studied international relations and politics at the University of Kent as part of the Erasmus programme. Currently, he is involved in teaching public international law at the Faculty of Law of Charles University as a PhD candidate. His main fields of interests include international investment law, WTO law and the European Union’s common trade policy. Introduction The result of the June 2016 referendum on whether the United Kingdom (UK) should leave the European Union (EU) has brought up many unprecedented legal problems. One of the most crucial ones is the status of the existing international (external) agreements concluded by the EU with third countries and its implications for the UK after withdrawal. In this regard, the case of EU free trade agreements (FTAs) is particularly significant. The

1 This article was supported by Charles University, project GA UK No 410217. The opinions expressed in this article do not represent an official position of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic and are just and only the author’s own.

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