1. it’s not “EU members” - it’s the executive of the confederation namely the 27 elected heads of government of the 27 countries
2. they don’t “need to” do anything - there are 10 days. The letter will go back to the UK with “err.. you forgot to sign this old boy. Now go and discuss it with your sovereign parliament who said you had to send it.”
3. “Under duress” - he’s the PM for heaven’s sake, he can resign or refuse to send it (and presumably under the Benn act be arrested or whatever). instead he took the weasel’s option, but it’s not a way out
4. The ball is purely in the UK’s court - it’s PM has sent an official letter, yet sent a personal letter refuting it. So he’s saying “I implore you to help me fix the mess in my own country” - that’s pretty much abject surrender by boris instead of being a man. Shame.
Interesting analysis.
1 and 2: My point remains that a PM should not be FORCED to sign a letter against his will without a Super Majority vote of its Parliament. In my opinion of course it’s a personal opinion of principle not a technical legal one
3: If the other nations accept/approve a request that is knowingly signed under duress. Even if legally permissible would raise serious moral and ethical questions. Agree?
4: I believe the proverbial ball is in the court of each EU member who will knowingly vote to approve an unsigned or a signed under duress request of another member.