Can the British Really Leave the Union?

The history of the UK’s relations with the European Community –and, subsequently, European Union– has never run smoothly. With their preferential trans-Atlantic links to the USA and an economy which, for a long time, they regarded as sizeable enough on its own, the British dragged their feet over joining Europe and have always striven to limit as much as possible what they give back to it for membership. For a few years now, as Jean-François Drevet reminds us here, the British have lacked enthusiasm about the Union and now find themselves just a few strides from the exit, after the rash commitment of the Conservative prime minister to organize a referendum among his fellow citizens within the next two years to decide on the country’s continuing membership. As this column shows, neither the politically obstructive past attitude of the British nor their current attempts to renegotiate the country’s place in the EU have brought them any significant advantages over their partners. And the prospect of a Brexit would doubtless be much more damaging to the UK than to the other 27 member states which, with or without it, will remain international big hitters.