Managing Disintegration: How the European Parliament Responded and Adapted to Brexit

Edoardo Bressanelli, Nicola Chelotti and Wilhelm Lehmann
Additional contact information
Edoardo Bressanelli: Dirpolis Institute, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy
Nicola Chelotti: Institute of Diplomacy and International Governance, Loughborough University London, UK
Wilhelm Lehmann: Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Italy

Politics and Governance, 2021, vol. 9, issue 1, 16-26

Abstract: Brexit makes both a direct and an indirect impact on the European Parliament (EP). The most direct consequence is the withdrawal of the 73-member strong UK contingent and the changing size of the political groups. Yet, the impact of Brexit is also felt in more oblique ways. Focussing on the role and influence of the EP in the EU–UK negotiations, and of the British delegation in the EP, this article shows that the process, and not just the outcome of Brexit, has significant organisational implications for the EP and its political groups. Moreover, it also showcases the importance of informal rules and norms of behaviour, which were affected by Brexit well ahead of any formal change to the UK status as a Member State. The EP and its leadership ensured the active involvement of the EP in the negotiating process—albeit in different ways for the withdrawal agreement and the future relationship—and sought to minimise the costs of Brexit, reducing the clout of British members particularly in the allocation of legislative reports.

Keywords: Brexit; European Parliament; European Union; MEPs; negotiations; trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3684 (text/html)

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:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:16-26

DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3684

Access Statistics for this article

Politics and Governance is currently edited by Carolina Correia

More articles in Politics and Governance from Cogitatio Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by António Vieira () and IT Department ().