European Union and Great Britain: After Brexit, WhoWins the break-up?

Abstract

Although a member state's decision to leave the European Union is a new phenomenon, the implications are not a separate event. Rather than speculating what the exact outcomes of Brexit will be on European integration, this chapter portrays the core reasons behind Brexit in order to reveal how the history of the relations between the UK and the European Union has impacted the integration process so far and to assess what the European Union should learn from Brexit. Furthermore, the authors claim that Brexit ought to be viewed as a rational outcome of a long historical process, where Britain's opposition towards further integration anywhere other than the single market, its strong national identity characterized by exceptionalism, and the backlash of globalization, have shaped European integration since Churchill. Ironically, the leave campaign slogan 'take back control' reveals the key lesson for the European Union to learn.