Thread by @syrpis

Teaching the start of EU law this week, and struck (again) by this question:

Why did Brexit (and the nature of the UK's relationship with the EU) come to matter so much?

Short thread. 1/11

I'd be interested to hear thoughts. It is a question which I struggle with. I'm maybe influenced by the fact that, in 20+ years of teaching, I've only rarely encountered strong views from students about the nature of the EU's political structure and legal order. 2/11

There is of course a lot of academic debate about law-making in the EU, the democratic deficit, the expansion and control of EU competence, the nature of the supremacy of EU law, the EU's judicial architecture, etc etc. There are very strong views on all sides. 3/11

But, in the grand scheme of things, and with apologies to EU experts, the nature of the UK's relationship with the EU matters less than the UK's constitutional arrangements, and the (lack of) control of executive power. 4/11

What is striking is how the Brexit slogans - take back control of our money, laws, and borders; end the jurisdiction of the CJEU; reclaim our sovereignty - seem to have had, and retain, such strong resonance. 5/11

They rely on what, I think, are two misunderstandings (or, at least, exaggerations); about the law-making process and about the nature of the single market. 6/11

Re the law-making process: people became persuaded that EU law is 'imposed' on Member States. The reality is different. It is a framework of common rules which is created via a structure created by the Member States, in which they have a decisive say. 7/11

And re the single market: it is the framework of rules, and the mechanisms through which those rules are monitored and enforced, which allow free trade within the single market.

States outside the single market, even those with FTAs with the EU, will face new barriers. 8/11

Essentially - the extent to which 'control' had been lost was consistently exaggerated; and the consequences of leaving the single market were consistently underplayed. 9/11

Now that we have left the EU, global Britain faces difficulties with the NI Protocol, and is seeing the consequences of being outside the single market.

https://twitter.com/rdanielkelemen/status/1442783310309167104

10/11

And yet... for the vast majority of those who voted for Brexit, Brexit remains important to them in a way in which (eg) domestic constitutional law and wider foreign policy does not.
As I said, I struggle to understand why. 11/11