The EU's Response to Brexit

This book is the first detailed analysis of how the EU responded to Brexit. It is an important reference point for future studies of the Brexit negotiations. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with key institutional players in Brussels and in several member states to document how the EU handled the first-ever exit of one of its members. The Brexit shock came at a time when the EU had barely recovered from the Euro crisis and was struggling to manage an unprecedented inflow of refugees. The immediate fear was that Brexit might be the final straw that broke the camel ’s back.

Eurosceptics were jubilant, and Europhiles were distraught. In reality, the EU reacted to Brexit with resolve and a determination to protect the polity. The book argues that getting the process right was crucial. The EU mobilised its collective capacity to negotiate effectively and with one voice.

“The EU’s Response to Brexit: United and Effective is a must-read and even more so that it is available in Open Access. It offers a unique and comprehensive account of the Brexit process, to the point that even readers who do not know anything about Brexit will get a complete understanding of the dynamics at play.” (Benjamin Leruth, European Political Science, Vol. 23 (4), 2024)

“Finally a book that examines the EU side of the Brexit story. Based on an original argument and interviews with policy-makers, Laffan and Telle explain how the EU managed to be united and successful in the negotiations with the UK.”

—Frank Schimmelfennig, Professor of European Politics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

"This entertaining, persuasive and well-researched account of how the EU approached and conducted the Brexit negotiations is likely to be the definitive work on the subject. Laffan and Telle have distilled the vastly complex issues of procedure and substance into a coherent narrative of how the EU set about successfully addressing an unprecedented challenge."

 —Bobby McDonagh, Ambassador of Ireland to the United Kingdom (2009–2013)

"Brigid Laffan and Stefan Telle’s The EU’s Response to Brexit offers an incisive analysis of how the European Union has turned Brexit into an opportunity. Brexit has been the European Union’s finest chance to mend its fragmentary ways. This new-found purpose has served Europe’s citizens well in responding to the COVID pandemic and in confronting Russian aggression. Laffan and Telle’s book is both a definitive statement on Brexit-EU relations and a clear-sighted investigation of how the EU may cope with future tests, ranging from climate change to Ukraine enlargement."

—Liesbet Hooghe, Professor of Political Science, UNC-Chapel Hill, USA

Brigid Laffan is Emeritus Professor at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy. Until her retirement in August 2021, Prof. Laffan was Director and Professor at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.

Stefan Telle worked as Research Associate in the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute, Italy.