Bringing the EU Back In: Rethinking the United Kingdom's Post-Brexit Bilateralism

Abstract

Although the bilateral deals it has struck with European neighbours are a key element of the United Kingdom's post-Brexit diplomacy, it would be a mistake to view these understandings as evidence that the United Kingdom has escaped the EU's influence or orbit. Since the United Kingdom's co-signatories are bound by their legal and political commitments as EU member states, the deals they can conclude with non-members are limited. Inspired by the work of John Erik Fossum and his collaborators on post-Brexit Norway–UK relations, this article argues that the United Kingdom's interaction with EU member states forms one side of a triangular relationship constrained by both the obligations on the United Kingdom's European partners qua member states and EU–UK agreements. Drawing on a systematic analysis of UK bilaterals signed with EU countries since 2021, it shows how their form, scope and content are thereby limited by these constraints, with important implications for the United Kingdom's strategy of bilateralism post-Brexit.