The Democratic Ambivalence of EU Disintegration: A Mapping of Costs and Benefits

Since Brexit, there is a growing interest in democratic theory in the conditions under which reversals of European integration can be considered legitimate. So far, however, the literature is very much focused on the specific case of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. In this article, I seek to prepare the ground for a systematic theory that clarifies, at a general level, the scope and limits as well as the actors and procedures of legitimate disintegration. To that end, I map the potential democratic costs and benefits of disintegration. In doing so, I distinguish five types of disintegration: retreat, revocation, exit, expulsion, and dissolution. Focusing on their effects on the conditions of self-government, I demonstrate that reversals of European integration tend to produce conflicts between the democratic claims of citizens and peoples, which require balancing. Overall, disintegration bears more potential costs for citizens than for peoples.