Preparing for Brexit: Actors, Negotiations and Consequences

137 Pages·2018·1.56 MB·English

PALGRAVE STUDIES IN
EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS
Series Editors: Michelle Egan, Neill Nugent and William E. Paterson
PREPARING
FOR BREXIT
Actors,
Negotiations and
Consequences
Lee McGowan
Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics
Series Editors
Michelle Egan
American University
Washington, DC
USA
Neill Nugent
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester, UK
William E. Paterson
Aston University
Birmingham, UK
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Lee McGowan
Preparing for Brexit
Actors, Negotiations and Consequences
Lee McGowan
Queen’s University Belfast
Belfast, UK
Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics
ISBN 978-3-319-64259-8 ISBN 978-3-319-64260-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64260-4
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P
reface
Never in my 20 year plus academic career have I been asked to address
as many non-academic audiences and have been requested to give inter-
views to literally dozens of reporters from the international press than
over the last two years. The reason was Brexit. The issue remains Brexit
and the immediate future will be determined by Brexit. The study of pol-
itics in the United Kingdom has rarely been as fascinating as now. On the
one hand the Brexit negotiations pit the UK government’s interests and
desires against those of the other 27 European Union member states. On
the other hand, the Brexit negotiations require the UK government in
London—at least in political terms—to include the devolved administra-
tions in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh in the process. Inclusion and par-
ticipation does not necessarily translate into influence and power. Indeed,
the impact of the UK’s departure from the EU plays out differently
across the British state and different and divergent interests and priorities
will surface. For someone resident in, and a native of, Northern Ireland
the Brexit theme plays out very differently from not only London but
both Cardiff and Edinburgh. Northern Ireland possesses its own unique
characteristics and concerns that are addressed in this book.
I had thought like so many others that the United Kingdom’s ref-
erendum on EU membership would produce a victory, albeit a narrow
one for the ‘remain’ campaign. It seemed that David Cameron’s abil-
ity to secure ‘special status’ for the UK was probably sufficient to win
a majority. A narrow remain vote would have kept the theme of EU
v
vi PrEFACE
membership alive but would have allowed the government and wider
civil society to finally make a case for Europe. The vote to ‘leave’ was
unexpected and threw up many challenges, possible opportunities and
risks but also uncertainty about how to prepare for Brexit and the nature
of Brexit. This book charts developments from June 2016. It has, on
reflection, been a difficult one to write as statements, developments and
events have continually changed. The issue of the UK’s divorce from the
EU also coincided with my own divorce and many a time the similari-
ties have been striking as issues about money and the financial implica-
tions abound, uncertainty over the new settlement linger and questions
arise about the desirability of new relationships or going it alone. This
book was written in the first half of 2017. At times it has been a fran-
tic exercise given the speed of developments and I would like to take
this opportunity to thank a number of special colleagues for helping me
get through everything. I dedicate this work to my three sons, Oliver,
George and Tom as their generation is the one that has to confront and
successfully manage the implications of Brexit.
Belfast, UK Lee McGowan
June 2017
c
ontents
1 Leaving Europe 1
2 Understanding Europe 17
3 Planning Brexit, July 2016–March 2017 33
4 Negotiating Brexit: The UK Position, Actors
and Objectives 49
5 Wrestling with Europe: Assessing the Response
and Positions of the European Union’s Actors 67
6 Maintaining Europe: The View from Northern Ireland 87
7 A Union in Crisis or a Union United After June 2017? 109
Index 127
vii
L f t
ist of igures and abLes
Diagram 2.1 E urope, the European Union and the
United Kingdom in 2017 24
Table 3.1 T heresa May’s letter to European Council President
Donald Tusk on 29 March 44
Table 5.1 E uropean Council draft resolution presented
by Donald Tusk on 31 March 72
Table 5.2 E uropean Parliament resolution for debate
and adopted on 5 April 83
Table 6.1 T he EU referendum result: dissecting the UK vote 90
Table 6.2 E lections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, March 2017 98
Table 7.1 Negotiating Brexit: the negotiators on day one 120
ix
CHAPTEr 1
Leaving Europe
Abstract McGowan presents the outcome of the referendum on the
UK’s membership of the European Union as a major point in the history
of modern Britain. The result for leave was so unexpected that the David
Cameron led government had not just not made any contingency plans,
but had even prevented Whitehall departments from contemplating such
a scenario. The vote for Brexit catapulted the UK government into a
period of uncertainty and doubt. rarely has British politics been more
interesting, rarely has the nature of the British state looked so precarious.
‘Brexit means Brexit’ became the mantra of Theresa May’s government,
but this objective was much more complicated than the government
was even willing to concede in public. McGowan outlines many of the
truly fundamental questions that have arisen about the nature and type
of Brexit, the government’s Brexit strategy, the role of the Westminster
parliament and the devolved administrations in the process of exiting the
EU as well as stressing the point that Brexit threatens the very founda-
tions of the United Kingdom.
Keywords Brexit · United Kingdom
On the 25th March 2017 the leaders of the EU’s Member State gov-
ernments met in rome to mark the 60th anniversary of the sign-
ing of the Treaty of rome, establishing both the European Economic
Community and EUrATOM. This original 1957 blueprint for Europe
© The Author(s) 2018 1
L. McGowan, Preparing for Brexit, Palgrave Studies in European Union
Politics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64260-4_1