Question

Explain how institutional choice was a driving force in Brexit. Be sure to identify what is meant by Brexit and then highlight how institutions came to play in the choice for Brexit.

Answer 1

The United Kingdom left the European Union — now an economic and political partnership of 27 countries — on January 31, 2020, bringing to an end 47 years of British membership of the EU and the institutions that preceded it.

Attention has since turned to negotiating the future EU-UK relationship beyond a stand-still transition period that ends on December 31, 2020 — heralding abrupt and major changes unless there is an agreement.

Meeting this tight deadline was going to be a huge challenge, even before the fierce onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. But despite a stalemate at the talks, an extension to the transition period has been ruled out.

"Brexit" — the term used to describe Britain's EU departure — represents the most important constitutional shake-up the UK has known since it joined the six-nation European Economic Community in 1973. It is also the first time the European institution has lost a member.

The UK voted to leave the EU by 52% to 48% in June 2016. It followed decades of increasing hostility to the European project in the United Kingdom, reinforced in recent years by a rise in nationalist sentiment, particularly in England. Other factors such as austerity and frustration with traditional politics have also been cited as reasons — amid a wider debate over the role of the nation state and the rise of populism in an age of globalisation.

The vote revealed strains between the UK's individual countries: England (53%) and Wales (52.5%) voted to leave the EU, whereas Scotland and Northern Ireland voted by 62% and 56% respectively to remain. Other divisions have also been exposed: between metropolitan areas and small towns for example, and different age groups and social classes.

The referendum's aftermath plunged the UK into its worst political and constitutional crisis since the Second World War. Brexit day was repeatedly delayed amid deadlock in the British parliament over the divorce terms.

There has been concern that the prolonged, acrimonious process has shifted attention from major global challenges, not least the battle to address the climate emergency — now compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout. For many in Europe, the prospect of an institutionalised rift between the UK and the EU weakens the continent at a time when America has become more isolationist, and China and Russia increasingly assertive.

The UK ceased to be a member of the EU from February 1, 2020, and is no longer part of the bloc's institutions. Both sides now aim to strike a deal on trade and the future UK-EU relationship, to come into effect when the transition period expires at the end of December.

Come January 1, 2021, the UK will no longer be part of the EU's Single Market and Customs Union, and subject to an agreement all legal aspects of Britain's membership of the bloc will cease to apply.

The negotiations which began in March 2020 cover trade in goods, plus a wide range of other areas including services, fishing and farming, aviation, security cooperation, data policy, education and science.

The European Union wants one comprehensive treaty covering everything, whereas the United Kingdom is seeking a simpler free trade deal and separate agreements on other matters.

Although the talks involve elaborate technical detail both sides have over-arching political objectives. The UK wants to make sure its European ties do not compromise its new independence; the EU needs to show that life inside the bloc is better than outside, and has consistently said the UK cannot "cherry-pick" benefits without obligations.

The deadline is the end of the year and the expiry of a post-Brexit “transition period” that keeps most arrangements from the UK's EU membership temporarily in place. In practice a deal will need to be struck earlier to allow time for the ratification process and for both sides to get ready.

Without an accord, the UK will thereafter be legally considered a "third" country by the EU, creating significant barriers to trade and other aspects of life. Both sides’ red lines have raised fears that no deal may be reached, bringing an abrupt, damaging “cliff-edge” at the end of 2020.

The process cannot be separated however from the pandemic and the greatest economic crisis since World War II, which call for international cooperation and action to ease catastrophic problems, not make them worse.