Differentiated Integration in Europe after Brexit: An Institutional and Legal Analysis

Abstract

The outcome of the referendum that has been held in the United Kingdom about leaving the European Union (Brexit) has fuelled the debate, in political and academic circles, about the future of the EU in the perspective of differentiated integration. The paper seeks to contribute to the debate, by arguing that it should be made clear that the differing solutions that are proposed for the challenges with which the Union is confronted are based not only on different legal foundations, but also on distinct ideas and beliefs about European construction. The paper explains how the institutional and legal mechanisms of differentiated integration can be assessed on the basis of the twin criteria of clarity and coherence, in the sense that some of them can be said to be coherent with one vision of Europe, not with the other one. It focuses, first, on institutional mechanisms of differentiated integration within the EU and, second, on legal mechanisms that imply an interaction between EU members and third countries, including the EEA. It is suggested that those mechanisms can be relevant also in the light of a Member State’s decision to leave the EU, as it happened with Brexit.