On February 1, 2017, the U.K. House of Commons voted preliminarily by a large majority (498 votes to 114) in favor of the Withdrawal from the European Union (Article 50) Bill 2016-2017 (the “Withdrawal Bill” – available here). Once the Withdrawal Bill receives royal assent, it will provide a formal mandate to the U.K. Government to notify the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the European Union. This notification will, itself, start the clock on the two-year window for negotiating the U.K.’s departure, pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The large majority in favor in the House of Commons suggests that the bill will almost certainly become law, although the process for its full adoption still requires additional procedural steps. In particular, the Withdrawal Bill will now undergo in-depth discussions within a committee of the House of Commons. Following the committee stage, the Withdrawal Bill will be voted upon by the entire House of Commons, and then transmitted for a vote to the House of Lords.

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has stated she intends to give formal notice under Article 50 in March 2017. Given the lengthy parliamentary procedure, combined with the continuing political debates on the precise scope of the government’s mandate, one could be forgiven for questioning whether this timetable might prove unduly optimistic.

For more information, contact: Dj Wolff, Charles De Jager, Lorenzo Di Masi, Gordon McAllister

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David (Dj) Wolff is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a director with Crowell Global Advisors, the firm’s trade policy affiliate.

At Crowell & Moring, he serves on the steering committee for the International Trade Group, where his practice

David (Dj) Wolff is the co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a director with Crowell Global Advisors, the firm’s trade policy affiliate.

At Crowell & Moring, he serves on the steering committee for the International Trade Group, where his practice focuses on all aspects of compliance with U.S. economic sanctions, including day-to-day compliance guidance, developing compliance programs, responding to government inquiries, conducting internal investigations, and representation during civil and criminal enforcement proceedings. Dj works regularly with non-U.S. clients, both in Europe and Asia, to evaluate the jurisdictional reach of U.S. sanction authorities to their global operations, identify and manage the potential conflict of laws that can result from that reach, as well as to support client’s design, implementation, and evaluation of a corresponding risk-based sanctions compliance program. Dj also regularly leads teams in diligence efforts on trade and related regulatory areas on behalf of his U.S. and non-U.S. clients in the M&A arena, having successfully closed more than 30 deals with an aggregate valuation of several billion dollars over the last 18 months.

Dj is ranked by Chambers USA in International Trade: Export Controls & Economic Sanctions. He has previously been recognized by Law360 as a Rising Star in International Trade (2020), by The National Law Journal as a “DC Rising Star” (2019), by Who’s Who Legal: Investigations as a “Future Leader” (2018 and 2019), Acritas Star as an Acritas Stars Independently Rated Lawyers (2019), by Global Investigations Review as one of the “40 under 40” in Investigations internationally (2017), and WorldECR as one of the five finalists for the WorldECR Young Practitioner of the Year award (2016).