The prime minister can trigger the two-year process of negotiating the UK’s withdrawal from the EU without a vote in parliament, government lawyers have advised. Dougan said only armchair lawyers thought the EEA provided any flexibility on free movement of workers. He added the legislative complexity of disentangling the UK from the EU will require a large surrender of power from parliament to executive. Article 50 is the clause that triggers the start of a negotiation to leave the EU. The chances of the UK negotiating an exemption on free movement under the EU is sharply reduced if 30 different states and institutions could veto the agreement.

Source: The Guardian July 05, 2016 16:25 UTC