Brexit: Reasons and challenges

Miklós Somai () and Zsuzsánna Biedermann ()
Additional contact information
Miklós Somai: Institute of World Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
Zsuzsánna Biedermann: Institute of World Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

Acta Oeconomica, 2016, vol. 66, issue supplement1, 137-156

Abstract: This paper reviews the deeper societal and economic reasons behind the British choice of leaving the European Union. We address the detailed results of the referendum and the long-standing sceptical British attitude towards European integration; next, we analyse the net budgetary contribution that changed enormously after the Eastern Enlargement. It is argued that the rise in the immigrant-native ratio had a significant impact on employee’s pay level in certain areas, therefore pro-Brexit campaigners highlighted migration as one of the major problems arising from EU membership. Increasing income and wealth inequalities and a growing anti-elite sentiment in British society, coupled with the negative image of Brussels bureaucrats and a British approach to the rule of law that is fundamentally different from the continental one, also contributed to the final result of the referendum. Our analysis ends with a glimpse into the close future, emphasising that the future of British-EU relations depends wholly on the pragmatism and wisdom of the negotiating parties.

Keywords: Brexit; UK; European integration; EU budget; immigration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F15 F36 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.akademiai.com/doi/pdf/10.1556/032.2016.66.S1.8 (application/pdf)
subscription

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aka:aoecon:v:66:y:2016:i:supplement1:p:137-156

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
Akadémiai Kiadó Zrt., P. O. Box 245, H-1519 Budapest, Hungary
https://akjournals.com/

Access Statistics for this article

Acta Oeconomica is currently edited by Mihályi, Péter

More articles in Acta Oeconomica from Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Kriston, Orsolya ().