At Brexit Crossroads: Autonomy and Growth as Alternatives?

In this article we have reviewed the main economic and legal problems of Brexit. The economic literature agrees that Brexit entails an economic loss for both the UK and the EU, but more so for the former, whose GDP is likely to incur a one-time 5 to 7% drop (not counting the Corona effect). These economic losses would be part of the price the UK would have to pay for the restoration of its full sovereignty in matters of international trade in the event of a hard Brexit. When the UK entered the EU in 1973, it cannot have been unaware of the ECJ being an atypical court and a motor of European integration, but its increasing uneasiness with the ECJ accumulating “super-constitutional” powers is also understandable. That the UK government now declares any form of ECJ involvement in the future legal relations with the Union a “red line” (a line that is also extended to the ECHR in police and judicial matters) is out of proportion but may indeed hinder a substantial agreement on important issues.