About the book
Brexit has irrevocably transformed British politics, yet its effects are not confined to relations between the UK and the EU. Venturing beyond the already vast literature on Brexit, this dynamic Handbook explores the implications of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU for the EU itself, single countries within and beyond Europe, and the international system, as well as different social groups, generations, and territories within the UK.
Introduction to the European Union and Brexit
This introduction asks four sets of question. First, what are the alternative explanations for Brexit? How far is Brexit best explained by contingent events; by the politics of the Conservative Party; by deeper problems in British politics, economy and society; by flaws and contradictions in the UK's membership of the EU; or even by a wider global crisis in democratic politics? Second, what does Brexit mean for the EU and how has the Union responded to it? Is Brexit part of a process of disintegration? Is it a sign that something has gone very wrong with the Union? Or has the EU merely lost a member that constrained its further development? Or could the EU and UK even both benefit from replacing a dysfunctional relationship with mutually advantageous forms of cooperation and competition? Third, what does Brexit mean for particular member states of the EU; for other European democracies that are not members of the Union; and even for more distant states, including some of the most powerful players in the international system (the USA and China)? Fourth, what are the challenges now? Does Brexit raise questions of legitimacy? And what, more tentatively, might the UK need to do in making the transition from a state organised for membership of the EU to a state organised for 'non-membership'?
Brexit and Economic Ideas
Now that Brexit is achieved, British leaders are eager to pursue a future for "Global Britain" free of constraints from the European Union. This chapter traces the economic ideas that allowed a pro-borders, neo-nativist vote for departure from the world's most open single market to be led by conservative politicians who see themselves as champions of greater international openness. Most Brexiteers adhere to a peculiar variety of neoliberalism that is especially opposed to federal-style authority over markets. It developed in the intellectual and political context of mid-to-late-20th-century Anglo-American economic theory, and was amplified into the dominant view among Conservatives by the leadership of Margaret Thatcher. Contrary to common accounts in which Thatcherites supported European integration for "Single Market 1992" liberalization but then turned against it over steps toward social and monetary integration, the chapter shows that Thatcher and her closest allies never endorsed empowering European institutions even for liberalizing goals.
The European Parliament and Brexit
This chapter looks at the role of the European Parliament (EP) in three phases of Brexit: the attempt by the David Cameron Government to renegotiate the UK's membership of the European Union prior to the 2016 referendum, the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). The chapter argues that the EP was both a strategic actor and a normative player. As a strategic actor the EP used its veto powers to align closely with the Commission in exchange for influence over the EU's negotiating position and in an attempt to reinforce the EU's overall bargaining power. As a normative player the EP attempted to shape standards that would need to be observed in any Brexit. That was important on questions of citizens' rights, Northern Ireland and the governance of the TCA. However, Brexit also had implications for the EP as well as the other way round. Important questions were raised by the re-allocation of the UK's seats in the EP, whilst the negotiation of the WA and TCA has lessons for how the EP operates as a 'working parliament', often sharing in the work of the Commission and European Council more than opposing them.
The Norway Model and the UK post-Brexit
This chapter focuses on the Norway model and its relevance for the UK post-Brexit. There are at least three different readings or interpretations of the Norway Model of relevance for the UK debate: a) the EEA agreement; b) the entire body of legal agreements that Norway has signed with the EU that cover most areas of EU activity; and c) the political, economic, social, and cultural conditions that embed the legal arrangements, including Norway's close relations with its Nordic neighbours, and the ideas and institutional arrangements that we associate with the Nordic Model, which represents a distinct model for organising society in socio-economic and political terms. The more Europeanised the Nordic EU member states, the stronger the Europeanisation pressure on Norway - to cohere with its closest Nordic neighbours. The chapter discusses that in relation to the vertical pressures that emanate from the legal framework that ties Norway to the EU. These assessments clarify the distinguishing features of Norway's EU affiliation and how it corresponds with or diverges from EU membership. The final part provides a brief overview of how the Norway model has been discussed in the UK.
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Chapter 1: Introduction to the European Union and Brexit
John Erik Fossum and Christopher Lord
Chapter 6: Brexit and Economic Ideas
Craig Parsons
Chapter 10: The European Parliament and Brexit
Christopher Lord
Chapter 21: The Norway Model and the UK post-Brexit
John Erik Fossum
In: Handbook on the European Union and Brexit
John Erik Fossum and Christopher Lord (eds)
Edward Elgar Publishing (2023)
ISBN: 978 1 83910 068 0