A nightmare on Downing Street: Brexit reaches the CJEU

This article explores two recent referrals made by two different Member States’ national courts to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the impact the UK’s withdrawal from the EU has on EU citizenship and fundamental rights. The key concern in both referrals is that the terms of the re-arrangement of the UK’s future relationship with the EU are unclear and variable depending on the way the withdrawal negotiations might ensue. As this article argues, the application of fundamental rights contained in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the jurisdiction of the CJEU will be the most crucial and sensitive issues in such re arrangement. Thus, the CJEU’s involvement through the preliminary ruling procedure will provide a legal clarity on the matter.