Future trade relations between the EU and the UK: Options after Brexit
This study analyses the various options for the future trade relations between the EU and the UK, after Brexit. It examines the various models against the canvas of two distinct paradigms: market integration and trade liberalization. It finds that an intermediate model, which would allow for continued convergence and mutual recognition in some sectors/freedoms, but not others, is unavailable and cannot easily be constructed for legal, institutional, and political reasons. The stark choice is between a customs union/free trade agreement, or continued internal market membership through the EEA or an equivalent agreement. The study further analyses the effects of Brexit on the UK’s continued participation in the trade agreements concluded by the EU. Notwithstanding a range of complexities, the study finds that such continued participation is not automatic but subject to negotiation.
Study
External author
Piet Eeckhout
About this document
Publication type
Policy area
Keyword
- common commercial policy
- customs union
- economic analysis
- economic consequence
- economic geography
- ECONOMICS
- Europe
- European construction
- European Economic Area
- EUROPEAN UNION
- GEOGRAPHY
- INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
- international trade
- market access
- political geography
- tariff policy
- TRADE
- trade agreement (EU)
- trade dispute
- trade policy
- trade relations
- United Kingdom
- withdrawal from the EU
- world organisations
- World Trade Organisation