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The General Court finds that the decision in question does not directly affect the legal situation of the British citizens who brought the action

Thirteen British citizens residing in Member States other than the UK are asking the General Court to annul the decision of the Council of the European Union authorising the opening of negotiations on Brexit.

The applicants claim that they were deprived of the right to vote in the referendum on account of their expatriation, that the contested decision has a direct impact on the rights which they derive from the Treaties and constitutes an act by which the Council accepted the UK’s notification of intention to withdraw from the EU. They also assert that the contested decision does not include the objective of ensuring that they maintain their status as EU citizens and submit that the withdrawal procedure is void in the absence of constitutional authorisation. Lastly, the applicants claim that this action before the General Court is their sole effective form of remedy before the EU Courts before the inescapable loss of their status as EU citizens on 29 March 2019.

The Council asks the General Court to declare the action inadmissible and to hold that it cannot accordingly be heard, since the contested decision is not open to challenge by natural or legal persons and the applicants have no interest or standing to bring proceedings against it. The Council claims that the contested decision does not affect the applicants’ legal situation; it is merely a preparatory act and draws the consequences of the UK’s notification of its intention to withdraw. It is therefore only at the the end of the Article 50 TEU1 procedure that the rights of the applicants are liable to be affected.

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