Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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133. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the opinion expressed by the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice regarding the ability of the United Kingdom to unilaterally revoke Article 50. [51850/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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On 10 December, and following the earlier opinion by its Advocate General, the European Court of Justice decided that a Member State can revoke a notification under TEU Article 50 of its intention to withdraw from the Union, unilaterally, at any point up to its withdrawal from the Union. The Court stipulated that it would have to be an unequivocal and unconditional decision, taken in accordance with the Member State's constitutional requirements.

Were the UK to revoke its notification, the withdrawal procedure would be ended and the UK would remain an EU Member State. Any decision to do so would be a matter for the UK, and it would not be appropriate to comment on what would be an internal matter for it.

The EU and UK have agreed a Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on the framework for the future relationship. Our focus remains on seeing this deal ratified and implemented.