IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jcmkts/v59y2021i5p1142-1159.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Forging Unity: European Commission Leadership in the Brexit Negotiations

Author

Listed:
  • Leonard August Schuette

Abstract

This article explains why the European Union has remained strikingly cohesive during the Brexit withdrawal negotiations by focussing on the role played by its negotiator: the European Commission'’s Task Force 50. The analysis demonstrates that the Task Force 50 set out to forge unity among the EU27 by exercising both subtle instrumental and direct political leadership. The Commission significantly influenced the outcome of the negotiations by shaping the agenda and process, brokering deals, and ultimately achieving a withdrawal agreement that all member states signed up to. Its transparent and consultative behaviour generated trust among member states, which allowed the Commission to play such a prominent role. These findings challenge the prevailing view that the EU has become increasingly intergovernmental at expense of the Commission. Drawing on original interviews, the article substantiates this argument by tracing the Commission's leadership activities in the run‐up to and throughout the withdrawal negotiations (2016–20).

Suggested Citation

  • Leonard August Schuette, 2021. "Forging Unity: European Commission Leadership in the Brexit Negotiations," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(5), pages 1142-1159, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:59:y:2021:i:5:p:1142-1159
    DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13171
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13171
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jcms.13171?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mads Dagnis Jensen & Jesper Dahl Kelstrup, 2019. "House United, House Divided: Explaining the EU's Unity in the Brexit Negotiations," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(S1), pages 28-39, September.
    2. Christopher J. Bickerton & Dermot Hodson & Uwe Puetter, 2015. "The New Intergovernmentalism: European Integration in the Post-Maastricht Era," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 703-722, July.
    3. Philipp Genschel & Markus Jachtenfuchs, 2018. "From Market Integration to Core State Powers: The Eurozone Crisis, the Refugee Crisis and Integration Theory," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 178-196, January.
    4. Brigid Laffan, 2019. "How the EU27 Came to Be," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(S1), pages 13-27, September.
    5. Desmond Dinan, 2016. "Governance and Institutions: A More Political Commission," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54, pages 101-116, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stella Ladi & Sarah Wolff, 2021. "The EU Institutional Architecture in the Covid‐19 Response: Coordinative Europeanization in Times of Permanent Emergency," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(S1), pages 32-43, September.
    2. Martin, Anne, 2021. "Northern Ireland and European integration: A historical analysis of divergent nationalist discourses," IPE Working Papers 171/2021, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    3. Angelou, Angelos, 2024. "Linking crises: inter-crisis learning and the European Commission’s approach to the National Recovery and Resilience Plans," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123867, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Moritz Rehm, 2021. "Tug of War over Financial Assistance: Which Way Forward for Eurozone Stability Mechanisms?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 173-184.
    2. Stefanie Walter, 2021. "EU‐27 Public Opinion on Brexit," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 569-588, May.
    3. Pamela Pansardi & Pier Domenico Tortola, 2022. "A “More Political” Commission? Reassessing EC Politicization through Language," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 1047-1068, July.
    4. Marta Migliorati, 2020. "The Post‐agencification Stage between Reforms and Crises. A Comparative Assessment of EU agencies' Budgetary Development," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(6), pages 1393-1412, November.
    5. Mark Dawson & Adina Maricut‐Akbik, 2023. "Accountability in the EU's para‐regulatory state: The case of the Economic and Monetary Union," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(1), pages 142-157, January.
    6. Luuk Middelaar, 2016. "The Return of Politics – The European Union after the crises in the eurozone and Ukraine," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 495-507, May.
    7. Eric Tremolada & Carlos Tassara & Olivier Costa, 2019. "Colombia y la Unión Europea. Una asociación cada vez más estrecha," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Derecho, number 1101, htpr_v3_i.
    8. Torbjørg Jevnaker & Barbara Saerbeck, 2019. "EU Agencies and the Energy Union: Providing Useful Information to the Commission?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 60-69.
    9. Brigitte Pircher & Karl Loxbo, 2020. "Compliance with EU Law in Times of Disintegration: Exploring Changes in Transposition and Enforcement in the EU Member States between 1997 and 2016," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(5), pages 1270-1287, September.
    10. Vrânceanu, Alina & Dinas, Elias & Heidland, Tobias & Ruhs, Martin, 2023. "The European refugee crisis and public support for the externalisation of migration management," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 279441, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    11. Ulrich Krotz & Lucas Schramm, 2021. "An Old Couple in a New Setting: Franco-German Leadership in the Post-Brexit EU," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 48-58.
    12. Víctor Mercader & Esthela Galván-Vela & Rafael Ravina-Ripoll & Cristina Raluca Gh. Popescu, 2021. "A Focus on Ethical Value under the Vision of Leadership, Teamwork, Effective Communication and Productivity," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-32, November.
    13. Fabio Franchino & Camilla Mariotto, 2021. "Noncompliance risk, asymmetric power and the design of enforcement of the European economic governance," European Union Politics, , vol. 22(4), pages 591-610, December.
    14. Beetz, Jan Pieter & Rossi, Enzo, 2015. "EU legitimacy in a realist key," Discussion Papers, Center for Global Constitutionalism SP IV 2015-802, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    15. Ares, Cristina & Volkens, Andrea, 2021. "'Business as usual': The Treaty of Lisbon and transnational party manifestos [Business as usual: el Tratado de Lisboa y los programas de los europartidos]," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 58(1), pages 1-1.
    16. Silvia Marcu, 2018. "Refugee Students in Spain: The Role of Universities as Sustainable Actors in Institutional Integration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-21, June.
    17. Hutter, Swen & Kriesi, Hanspeter, 2019. "Politicizing Europe in times of crisis," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26(7), pages 996-1017.
    18. Gabriele Abels & Joyce M. Mushaben, 2020. "Great Expectations, Structural Limitations: Ursula von der Leyen and the Commission's New Equality Agenda," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(S1), pages 121-132, September.
    19. Abbott, Kenneth W. & Genschel, Philipp & Snidal, Duncan & Zangl, Bernhard, 2018. "The governor's dilemma: Competence versus control in indirect governance," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2018-101, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    20. Thomas Winzen & Rik de Ruiter & Jofre Rocabert, 2018. "Is parliamentary attention to the EU strongest when it is needed the most? National parliaments and the selective debate of EU policies," European Union Politics, , vol. 19(3), pages 481-501, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:59:y:2021:i:5:p:1142-1159. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-9886 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.