Week Ahead (23 September)

w/c Monday 23 September, UK Supreme Court to rule on prorogation

While Supreme Court judgments are normally handed down on a Wednesday morning, there is nothing normal about this case. As a result, the decision, a five-minute summary of which is normally read by one judge, could come earlier this week. Lady Hale, the President of the Supreme Court concluded after the three-day trial that "none of this is easy" but she said the judges would produce an answer "as soon as we humanly can".

Monday 23 September, Dissolution of Spanish Parliament

After five months of negotiations, no agreement has been found between the Socialist Party and Podemos Unidos in order to form a government in Spain. Neither Pedro Sanchez (PSOE) nor Pablo Iglesias (PU) changed their position over the possible allocation of ministries. After an unsuccessful last-minute effort, on Tuesday King Felipe announced that he will not put forward a candidate for Prime Minister since none would be able to win the investiture vote in the congress. As a result, parliament will be dissolved today paving the way for general elections to be held on 10 November.

Monday 23 September 2019, British Labour party conference to vote on the final Brexit motions

Brexit strategy will dominate the agenda at Labour party conference today. Jeremy Corbyn has announced that he is ready to take Britain out of the EU if the public backs a Labour deal following a second referendum. Certain members of the shadow cabinet have stated that they would campaign for remain if there was a second referendum regardless of what deal Labour was able to obtain. Over 90 constituency Labour parties (CLP) have submitted motions for Labour to commit immediately to campaign for Remain in the event of a second referendum. The representatives were unable to agree on a single motion that will be put to a vote at the conference. As a result, two motions, one avowedly pro-Remain and one more neutral, will be put to a vote today.

Tuesday 24 September 2019, Ruling expected in the European Court of Justice: Luxembourg v Commission & Fiat v Commission plus Netherlands v Commission & Starbucks v Commission

In October 2015, the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition (DG Comp) ruled that Luxembourg and the Netherlands had granted selective tax advantages to Fiat and Starbucks respectively.

Ireland joined Luxembourg in its appeal against this ruling. Given the principles behind both DG Comp decisions, Ireland’s appeal against the Luxembourg tax ruling is closely interlinked to

its own case with Apple. The same judges are hearing both appeals and a concession on a point of law in one case would likely apply in the other. Therefore, both sides of the Apple case will be closely watching the conclusion of the Luxembourg appeal which is expected on 24 September.