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Negotiating The Future: The UK's Repositioning In Europe

Negotiating The Future

The UK's Repositioning In Europe


Key contacts:

Funding: UK Economic and Social Research Council (under its 'UK in a Changing Europe' programme)

Start date: 2019

End date: 2022

Project overview

The first phase of the research will be to follow the Article 50 negotiations, to examine the positions taken by the two sides, and to explore the implications of the various scenarios. Thereafter, the focus will be on the interaction between the UK and the EU, the UK’s wider repositioning in Europe, and the impact on the UK and EU sides. The research will pay particular attention to the positions and action of the EU institutions and the EU-27, which are often overlooked or downplayed in coverage of Brexit in the UK.

Project aims

The aim of this project is to examine and communicate research on the negotiations between the UK and the EU, the UK’s relationship with the European Union, and the UK’s broader relations with ‘Europe’.

Research outcomes

The findings of the research will be published in several forms, including blogs, podcasts and academic articles, and will be accompanied by a series of animations. A programme of events – national, international, regional and local – is planned.

Publications

Regulation after Brexit Revisited - October 2022

Nearly two years after the UK assumed regulatory authority following the end of the transition period, it is timely to revisit the state of UK regulation post-Brexit. ‘UK Regulation after Brexit Revisited’ follows and updates our earlier report published in February 2021. The chapters are either new or have been completely re-written.

ReportLink opens in a new window

UK Regulation after Brexit Report - February 2021

Our new report ‘UK regulation after Brexit’, takes a first step to mapping the new regulatory settlement in the wake of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

The report explores key findings including how UK regulation has changed since the transition period ended on 31 December 2020. It looks at the UK’s readiness to assume regulatory responsibility from the EU, the extent the UK has diverged from EU policy, and the long-term prospects for UK alignment or divergence.

Launch videoLink opens in a new window

ReportLink opens in a new window

UK bilaterals with EU member States since Brexit - Working document April 2023

Since it left the EU, the UK has signed multiple bilateral declarations and statements with EU member states. Although they have received less attention than the UK’s renegotiated trade deals, they form an important element of the UK’s post-Brexit diplomatic strategy and are featured in the UK government’s recent Integrated Review Refresh. This working paper offers a provisional examination of these agreements. It looks at their interaction with the WA and the TCA, assesses their significance, and discusses what they signal about the opportunities available to the UK for forging bilateral ties as a third country.

UK Bilaterals with EU member states since BrexitLink opens in a new window

Negotiating Brexit: Where Now?- October 2018

Specialists on different EU states address the following questions:

  • What was the reaction to the UK referendum? What approach has your government taken, and what considerations and influences have shaped it?
  • What have been your governments main concerns in the Article 50 negotiations, and what are its priorities in negotiation the Withdrawal Agreement? What kind of future relationship between the EU and the UK would your government like to see?
  • What are the prospects, especially after Salzburg and the run-up to the October European Council, for an agreement and orderly Brexit?

Negotiating Brexit: Where Now? ReportLink opens in a new window

Negotiating Brexit: What do the UK's negotiating partners want? - October 2017

The UK’s negotiating partners – the other 27 member states, as well as the EU institutions, and perhaps even the members of the European Free Trade Association – will also have a major say. In fact, contrary to political wisdom in some quarters, it may even be that the UK’s negotiating partners hold the upper hand.

Two Working Papers on UK-EU collaboration

Unfinished business? The Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Cleo Davies and Hussein Kassim look at the impact of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement on UK-EU relations, the factors involved in decision-making, the effects on various sectors and more.

Institutions and governance of the EU-UK relationship describes the committee structures, their functions, and their operation hitherto. It also discusses the institutional arrangements put in place by the UK and the EU to manage the new relationship.


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