Abstract
This chapter poses the fundamental question of whether the European Union (EU) is likely to be strengthened by the departure of its most awkward member, or else be greatly weakened and potentially even collapse. To answer this question, the chapter first reviews the ways in which the EU has developed in the past, and argues that the ensuing “sui generis” structure, with its mix of supranationalism and inter-governmentalism, has never been properly understood within the UK. The chapter concludes that a weakening of the EU is more plausible than a major new advance in EU integration but that neither a federal Europe nor the collapse of the EU look very likely at present. An updated narrative for the EU will, however, be required.
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Notes
- 1.
Verhofstadt, G. (January 2017). “Europe’s Last Chance. Why the European States Must Form a More Perfect Union”. New York, Basic Books (Hachette).
- 2.
Rogers, Sir I. (Former UK Permanent Representative to the European Union) (24 November 2017). “The Inside Story of How David Cameron Drove the UK to Brexit”. Lecture at Hertford College, Oxford, as part of a Prospect/Hertford Series.
- 3.
Should the correct term be “Brexiteers”, which has a more buccaneering quality, or the more sober “Brexiters”?
- 4.
The title of an Oxford Union debate of 23 November 2017.
- 5.
Rosamond, B. (2016). “Brexit and the Problem of European Disintegration”. Journal of Contemporary European Research, vol. 12, no. 4, Dec. 2016. ISSN 1815-347X.
- 6.
Zielonka, J. (2014). “Is the EU Doomed?” Hoboken, NJ. Wiley.
- 7.
New Pact for Europe. National Report. Italy (July 2017), in conjunction with IAI (Istituto Affari Internazionali).
- 8.
British Prime Minister’s letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, 29 March 2017.
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Jacobs, F.B. (2018). Will the EU Become Stronger or Weaker or Even Disintegrate as a Result of Brexit?. In: The EU after Brexit . Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77279-0_2
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