At Brexit crossroads: autonomy and gains from trade as alternatives? Introduction and overview

The editors’ introductory chapter to this volume deals with the interplay of major legal and economic parameters of Brexit and presents an outlook on the subsequent articles. Most economists expect that any Brexit, but especially its “hard†variant, will entail welfare losses in the EU, but more so in the UK. Although a post-Brexit agreement that emulates much of the Internal Market would be in the UK’s interest, British “red lines†(ECJ, autonomy and fisheries) impede the negotiations, along with the EU’s stubborn insistence on “level playing fields†. The British aspiration to privileged financial market access is as illusionary as seeking salvation in a - dysfunctional - WTO. Although the present odds of a “soft†Brexit are rather low, the mutual dependence of actors geographically so close fuels hopes that both will be drawn back to the negotiation table.