The legitimacy of exits from the European Union

Abstract:

Justifications for extending the Union’s boundaries to include new Member States have been much discussed. Only since the Brexit referendum have justifications for shrinking the Union’s boundaries through withdrawals of Member States received the same attention.

This paper uses concepts of historical responsibility to ask whether decisions Member States take together constrain the manner in which any one of them can justifiably exit the Union? It argues that much depends on how far Members States make laws together that are important to the lives of their citizens; that pre-empt their subsequent choices; and which affect their ability to manage collective action problems.

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