UK must hold EU elections if Brexit is delayed, says senior MEP

Danuta Hübner says the UK would face a legal challenge if Brexit is delayed and citizens can’t vote.

The U.K. has a “duty” to hold a European Parliament election if Brexit is delayed beyond the poll in May, according to Polish MEP Danuta Hübner, who is a member of the Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group.

Speaking before members of the influential Constitutional Affairs Committee, Hübner said an EU country is responsible for “ensuring that citizens have their representatives in the European Parliament.”

The senior MEP said the U.K. would face a legal challenge in the European Court of Justice if it denied its citizens representation in the European Parliament while still a member of the EU.

Any refusal from the U.K. to hold an election would also mean a “breach of EU treaties and EU electoral law,” and “can be brought to court,” she said, “but let’s hope that this situation will not happen.”

Hübner spoke a week after British MPs massively rejected the withdrawal deal agreed between the U.K. and the EU. The issue of an extension of Article 50 beyond the election has been at the center of discussions in all EU institutions because of the increasing likelihood that the Brexit date will have to be pushed back due to the political impasse in London.

Though British Prime Minister Theresa May ruled out any extension of the deadline in the “Plan B” she presented to MPs on Monday, many British backbenchers believe an extension is now inevitable. They plan to force the U.K. government to rule out a no-deal Brexit by withdrawing or extending Article 50 if the U.K. parliament cannot agree on a deal.

On Tuesday, Hübner made clear that if the U.K. is still an EU member in May and doesn’t want to hold an election, the EU would need to revise treaties through unanimity and ratification by all member countries. “And, we don’t have time for this,” she said.

“Anything that would allow a member state not to have EU elections in a similar situation would require a revision of the treaties and the EU’s electoral law,” Hübner added. “So we don’t think it’s feasible.”

Guy Verhofstadt, the Parliament’s Brexit coordinator, told MEPs on the committee that any extension of Article 50 “is not easy” and would “make things more difficult.”

Verhofstadt also briefed MEPs on the Parliament’s procedure for approving the Brexit deal agreed between London and Brussels that was rejected by MPs. The European Parliament will proceed with ratification next week, when the deal will be officially referred to the Constitutional Affairs Committee. All MEPs are set to give their final consent on the text in March at the latest.

The Liberal MEP said the EU is also considering having “permanent contingency” measures for U.K. citizens in the EU and European citizens living in the U.K. to ensure that their rights in the Withdrawal Agreement are preserved in case of a no-deal.

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