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In this monograph, Laffan and Telle provide a detailed analysis of how the EU responded to Brexit. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with key institutional players in Brussels and in several member states to document how the EU handled the first-ever exit of one of its members. The Brexit shock came at a time when the EU had barely recovered from the Euro crisis and was struggling to manage an unprecedented inflow of refugees. The immediate fear was that Brexit might be the final straw that broke the camel ’s back.
Eurosceptics were jubilant, and Europhiles were distraught. In reality, the EU reacted to Brexit with resolve and a determination to protect the polity. The book argues that getting the process right was crucial. The EU mobilised its collective capacity to negotiate effectively and with one voice.
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Brigid Laffan (@BrigidLaffan) is Emeritus Professor at the European University Institute. Previously she was Director and Professor at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and Director of the Global Governance Programme and the European Governance and Politics Programme at the European University Institute (EUI), Florence until her retirement in August 2021. She is a member of the Board of the Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice, the Fulbright Commission (until September 2013) and was the 2013 Visiting Scientist for the EXACT Marie Curie Network. In November 2018 she was ranked among the women who shape Europe by POLITICO. Among her many accolades, Laffan was notably awarded the Ordre national du Mérite by the President of the French Republic in 2010.
Kevin Featherstone is a Professorial Research Fellow at the LSE European Institute. He has held visiting positions at the University of Minnesota; New York University; Harvard University; and, the European University Institute (Firenze). In 2023 he was granted honorary Greek citizenship for his academic work on Greece and for his significant contribution to the promotion of research and debate on contemporary Greece and Cyprus.
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The European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe.
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