Judgment_paragraph 43 · M.-A.A. v Direcţia de Evidenţă a Persoanelor Cluj and Others (C-4/23)

43In the second place, although, on 1 February 2020, the date on which the Withdrawal Agreement entered into force, the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union, thus becoming a third State, that agreement nevertheless provides, in Article 126, for a transition period between the date of entry into force of that agreement, namely 1 February 2020, and 31 December 2020. In accordance with Article 127(6) of that agreement, the United Kingdom must, during that period, be regarded, inter alia, for the purposes of the rules on citizenship of the Union and the free movement of persons, as a ‘Member State’, and not as a third country, with Article 127(1) stating, moreover, that EU law was applicable to the United Kingdom during that period (see, to that effect, judgments of 15 July 2021, The Department for Communities in Northern Ireland, C‑709/20, EU:C:2021:602, paragraphs 47 and 48, and of 14 March 2024, Commission v United Kingdom (judgment of the Supreme Court), C‑516/22, EU:C:2024:231, paragraph 53).