AFP, LONDON: England’s High Court on Friday blocked a legal challenge to force the government to seek parliamentary approval before pulling out of the European Economic Area as a part of Brexit.
The case had been brought by campaigners who wanted a “soft Brexit” that would keep Britain in the European single market. In a landmark decision last month, the Supreme Court ruled that parliament must give its approval before the government invokes Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, the formal mechanism for pulling out.
But High Court judges rejected the attempt to do the same over the triggering of Article 127, which would pull Britain out of the EEA.
The EEA area contains the EU’s 28 member states plus Norway, Iceland and Liech­tenstein. The EEA Agreement provides for the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital within the single market.