The rationale of Brexit and the theories of European integration

Abstract

Research background: Recent developments have raised doubts on future sustainability of the EU as successful political and economic organization. Many phenomena ? from euro and sovereign debt crisis to the emergence of right-wing, populist and anti-liberal movements ? have brought into question the actual foundations of European integration, be it economic cooperation or a community of values. This problem became even more topical after the Brexit referendum. For this very reason a new strand of research on European disintegration has lately began to appear. It was supposed to fill in a serious gap in the body of literature, which had so far optimistically focused on integration processes.

Purpose of the article: The aim of our work is to reflect on Brexit ? which is an exemplification of disintegration tendencies ? through the lenses of theories of European integration in order to find out how well the two match each other. We also try to identify the dynamics Brexit may provoke in theoretical research and in the future of European integration.

Methods: We take three most influential theories of integration, i.e. neofunctionalism, intergovernmentalism and post-functionalism, and attempt to analyze Brexit by means of their main assumptions and internal logic.

Findings & Value added: We believe that only post-functionalism is able to satisfactorily explain Brexit by turning to mass politics and questions of identity instead of economic rationality. We also suggest that analysis of such issues will become more important in future research on European integration.

Keywords

European integration, Brexit, disintegration debate, future of the EU

References

1. Bressanelli, E., Chelotti, N., & Lehmann, W. (2019). Negotiating Brexit: the European parliament between participation and influence. Journal of European Integration, 41(3). doi: 10.1080/07036337.2019.1599372. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2019.1599372
   View in Google Scholar
2. Grosse, T. G. (2016). Assumptions of the theory of regional disintegration: suggestions for further research. Przegląd Europejski, 42(4).
   View in Google Scholar
3. Greater London Authority (2018). Preparing for Brexit. London: Cambridge Econometrics.
   View in Google Scholar
4. Haas, E. B. (1958). The uniting of Europe. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
   View in Google Scholar
5. Hobolt, S. B. (2016). The Brexit vote: a divided nation, a divided continent. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(9). doi: 10.1080/13501763.2016.1225785. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2016.1225785
   View in Google Scholar
6. Hoogle, L., & Marks, G. (2009). A postfunctionalist theory of European integration: from permissive consensus to constraining dissensus. British Journal of Political Science, 39(1). doi: 10.1017/S0007123408000409. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123408000409
   View in Google Scholar
7. Hooghe, L., & Marks, G. (2019). Grand theories of European integration in the twenty-first century. Journal of European Public Policy, 26(8). doi: 10.1080/ 13501763.2019.1569711. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2019.1569711
   View in Google Scholar
8. Jones, E. (2018). Towards a theory of disintegration. Journal of European Public Policy, 25(3). doi: 10.1080/13501763.2017.1411381. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2017.1411381
   View in Google Scholar
9. Kriesi, H., Grande, E., Dolezal, M., Helbling, M., Hoglinger, D., Hutter, S., & Wuest, B. (2012). Political conflict in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139169219
   View in Google Scholar
10. Martill, B., & Staiger, U. (2018). Rethinking the futures of Europe. In U. Staiger & B. Martill (Eds.). Brexit and beyond: rethinking the futures of Europe. London: UCL Press. doi: 10.14324/ 111.9781787352759. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt20krxf8
    View in Google Scholar
11. McTague, T. (2019) How the UK lost the Brexit battle. Politico, 27.032019.
    View in Google Scholar
12. Milward, A. (1992). The European rescue of the nation state. London: Routledge.
    View in Google Scholar
13. Moravcsik, A. (1998). The choice for Europe: social purpose & state power from Messina to Maastricht. London: Routledge.
    View in Google Scholar
14. Nugent, N. (2017). The government and politics of the European Union. London: Palgrave. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-45410-2
    View in Google Scholar
15. Patel, O. (2018). The EU and the Brexit negotiations: institutions, strategies and objectives, UCL European Institute, London.
    View in Google Scholar
16. Phelan, W. (2012). What is sui generis about the European Union? Costly international cooperation in a self-contained regime. International Studies Review, 14(3). doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2486.2012.01136. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2486.2012.01136.x
    View in Google Scholar
17. Richardson, J. J. (2006). European Union: power and policy-making. London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203004449
    View in Google Scholar
18. Richardson, J. J. (2018). Brexit: the EU policy-making state hits the populist buffers. Political Quarterly, 89(1). doi: 10.1111/1467-923X.12453. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12453
    View in Google Scholar
19. Rosamond, B. (2016). Brexit and the problem of European disintegration. Journal of Contemporary European Research, 12(4). DOI: https://doi.org/10.30950/jcer.v12i4.807
    View in Google Scholar
20. Sampson, T. (2017). Brexit: the economics of international disintegration. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(4). doi: 10.1257/jep.31.4.163. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.31.4.163
    View in Google Scholar
21. Schimmelfennig, F. (2017). Theorizing crisis in European integration. In D. Dinan, N. Nugent & W. E. Paterson (Eds.). The European Union in crisis. London: Palgrave.
    View in Google Scholar
22. Schimmelfennig, F. (2018). Brexit: differentiated disintegration in the European Union. Journal of European Public Policy, 25(8). doi: 10.1080/13501763 .2018.1467954. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2018.1467954
    View in Google Scholar
23. Schmitter, P. C., & Lefkofridi, Z. (2016). Neo-functionalism as a theory of disintegration. Chinese Political Science Review, 1(1). doi: 10.1007/s41111-016-0012-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41111-016-0012-4
    View in Google Scholar
24. Teney, C., Lacewell, O. P., & De Wilde, P. (2014). Winners and losers of globalization in Europe: attitudes and ideologies. European Political Science Review 6(4). doi.:10.1017/S1755773913000246. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773913000246
    View in Google Scholar
25. Tetlow, G., & Stojanovic, A. (2018). Understanding the economic impact of Brexit. London: Institue for Government.
    View in Google Scholar
26. The Consequences of a British exit from the European Union. (2016). European movement international, policy brief. Retrieved form https://europeanmovem ent.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/EMI_16_Policy-Position_Brexit_17_VIEW _FINAL.pdf (6.07.2019).
    View in Google Scholar
27. Wahl-Jorgensen, K. (2016). The emotional politics of the EU Referendum: Bregrexit and beyond. In D. Jackson , E. Thorsen & D. Wring (Eds.). EU referendum analysis 2016: media, voters and the campaign. Early reflections from leading UK academics. Poole: Bournemouth University.
    View in Google Scholar
28. Webber, D. (2014). How likely is it that the European Union will disintegrate? A critical analysis of competing theoretical perspectives. European Journal of International Relations, 20(2). doi: 10.1177/1354066112461286. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066112461286
    View in Google Scholar
29. Zielonka, J. (2014). Is the EU doomed? Cambridge: Polity.
    View in Google Scholar