De-Europeanization And Re-Europeanization: Mapping Out The Effect Of The UK’s Departure From The European Union

How do processes of Europeanization unravel and what kind of outcomes do they create? Processes of Europeanization create profound effects and lead to new social, political and economic equilibria within Member States across three dimensions: politics, policy and polity. Little has been said however about the way Europeanization works as a process in reverse gear, i.e. when the EU moves away from unitary policies and towards ideas of ‘differentiated integration’ or the new outcomes created as a result of events such as the departure of a Member State. Whilst there is considerable literature about the Europeanization of non-Member States and the way they interact and develop an institutionalized relation with the EU, there limited discussion about the scaling back of the embeddedness of a country within EU structures and processes. Using the case of the UK’s departure from the EU, we map out de-Europeanization and re-Europeanization effects on the three dimensions above, reflecting on the historical roots of such processes. The argument is that we need to reconceptualise Europeanization as a contingent and multi-directional process. To that extent, we map out the pathways to change, and explore whether outcomes of those processes are pre-determined or contingent upon the dynamic processes of Europeanization.