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1. Regulating after Brexit

Author:
Joël Reland
Publication Date:
05-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
Deregulation was at the heart of the Conservative vision of Brexit. Boris Johnson negotiated a Brexit deal which gave Great Britain significant freedom to diverge from EU rules and regulations, promising to make the UK ‘the best regulated economy in the world’. This report examines the extent to which the UK has made use of its ‘Brexit freedoms’, finding that there has been very little meaningful divergence from the EU. It identifies the key reasons for this lack of divergence: trade frictions, political complexities, limited state capacity and a lack of strategy. The report then analyses the change in regulatory approach under the current government. It finds that, unlike its predecessors, this government is willing to align with EU rules to remove existing trade barriers and to avoid new ‘passive divergence’ where EU rule changes create divergence by default. Yet, at the same time, the government is keen to use deregulation to boost growth and to build trade ties with the United States. This report identifies a potential conflict between these aims and its EU regulatory agenda, and argues that the UK needs a clear strategy to ensure its multiple regulatory objectives do not undermine one another.
Topic:
European Union, Regulation, Economy, Brexit, and Deregulation
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

2. The Brexit Files: from referendum to reset

Author:
UK in a Changing Europe
Publication Date:
01-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
For the past decade, UK in a Changing Europe has provided impartial, research-based analysis on a number of issues, but most particularly on UK-EU relations. Since before the 2015 General Election, we have evaluated those relations, traced and explained the tortuous Brexit process, and attempted to assess the impact that Brexit has had on the country. This report brings together some of the best scholars working on these issues to consider a number of these questions on the 5th anniversary of the UK ceasing to be a member of the European Union.
Topic:
Bilateral Relations, Elections, European Union, and Brexit
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

3. Shocking a CEO: Economic disintegration and executive compensation in manufacturing and services firms

Author:
Merchan Federico and Holger Görg
Publication Date:
04-2025
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
Abstract:
This paper uses the Brexit referendum in 2016 as a quasi-natural experiment to estimate the effect of an exogenous negative shock to globalization on executive compensation for German companies listed in the DAX and MDAX stock indices. We show that it matters whether they work for firms exporting goods or services. The main results indicate that executive compensation in firms operating in sectors that export services was negatively affected, in particular through lower variable compensation. On the contrary, executives of firms that operate in sectors exporting goods were not negatively affected overall, though they experienced a compositional change (from bonuses to equity payments). Sectoral regressions suggest that manufacturing firms redirected successfully exports from the UK to other relevant trade partners, while this was not the case in the service sector.
Topic:
Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Brexit, and Services
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, and Germany

4. Ukraine and the United Kingdom: how the EU should address the challenge of enlargement to the east and west

Author:
Andrew Duff
Publication Date:
11-2025
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Policy Centre (EPC)
Abstract:
This paper contrasts the challenges faced by the United Kingdom and Ukraine as they each try to level with the European Union. It recommends a change of methodology to accelerate Ukraine’s accession and overcome a veto. Fast-tracking Ukraine’s membership should jolt the British government out of its complacency and trigger the first full-scale public enquiry into the future of UK-EU relations. The EU, for its part, will be bolstered by welcoming the membership of its two big neighbours to the east and west.
Topic:
European Union, Brexit, and Enlargement
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, and Ukraine

5. UK-EU Divergence Tracker Q4 2024 – Q2 2025

Author:
Joël Reland
Publication Date:
07-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
This is the thirteenth edition of the UK in a Changing Europe’s regulatory divergence tracker. It outlines how UK and EU rules and regulations have diverged in the period October 2024-June 2025. The previous tracker found that the new government appeared to be ‘laying the groundwork’ for greater regulatory alignment with the EU, as it paused several major initiatives that would have led to divergence. This edition finds that the shift has now kicked off in earnest, with 21 cases of regulatory alignment identified – compared to four last time. Though it is the commitments to alignment made at May’s UK-EU summit which have grabbed the headlines, the tracker finds that there is plenty more going on below the surface, with several different types of alignment at play. There is ‘dynamic alignment’, where the UK commits to sector-specific EU rules in exchange for much smoother EU market access in those areas; ‘voluntary alignment’ where the UK unilaterally mirrors EU rules to avoid unwanted divergence effects; and ‘coordination’ where the UK and EU take common steps on topics of shared interest. Meanwhile, the UK continues to diverge from the EU in a few areas, most notably financial services, while the EU has implemented a wide range of new product regulations which have not been mirrored in Great Britain.
Topic:
European Union, Regulation, Brexit, and Divergence
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

6. UK-EU Divergence Tracker Q3 2025

Author:
Joël Reland
Publication Date:
10-2025
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
This is the fourteenth edition of the UK in a Changing Europe’s regulatory divergence tracker, outlining how UK and EU rules and regulations have diverged in the period July-October 2025. This tracker finds the trend towards greater UK alignment with EU rules to be continuing, with seven cases identified. At the same time, however, the scale of alignment is far from comprehensive: there are eight cases of EU-led ‘passive divergence’ from UK rules, and five cases of UK-led ‘active’ divergence from the EU. The main areas of UK alignment have been around the regulation of manufactured goods, like products and vehicles, and digital markets. The most significant EU-led divergence has been over trade policy, with a significant tightening of restrictions on steel imports which is likely to hurt UK industry. The main area of ‘active’ UK divergence from the EU centres, as has long been the case, was financial services. Yet none of the measures brought forward are likely to have much, if any, discernible impact on the government’s mission to boost economic growth.
Topic:
European Union, Regulation, Brexit, Economic Growth, Manufacturing, and Industry
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

7. Mind the Gap! Small State Influence within the EU during the Brexit Process: The Case of Slovakia

Author:
Sedanur Yıldız
Publication Date:
07-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Rest: Journal of Politics and Development
Institution:
Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
Abstract:
The United Kingdom has been seen as a balancing element for small states to prevent big states from gaining hegemony in the EU, especially Franco-German. The decision, which was stated to withdraw the UK from the EU with a referendum in 2016, has reawakened the concern of small states. Inevitably, member states have been affected by the outcome of this decision, even though in a different dimension. The Brexit negotiations preserved the dominance of the EU interests so as not to create a chain effect among the other members based on Article 50, which was applied for the first time. In contrast, the EU’s implementation of immigration policies has mainly led to the strengthening of anti-EU groups in the member states. Since Central and Eastern European countries are the first boundaries of migration waves, anti-immigration movements are felt in those countries’ political and social spheres. Slovakia faced the Brexit decision at the first Council Presidency after becoming a member of the EU. On the other hand, the Presidency’s agenda was not overshadowed by Brexit and focused on the predetermined road map. For this reason, the Council Presidency of Slovakia had not been subject to the shocking effect of any crisis agenda and was relatively moderate. With the immigration policies, which include the general interests of the EU, there was no progress in the asylum and migration title as the point of view of Slovakia is not very compatible. This article deals with the Brexit process and its impact on Slovakia. The main question of the study is how small states fill in the gap that Brexit might cause and whether small states can take the initiative for the future of the EU, which is discussed in the case of Slovakia.
Topic:
European Union, Brexit, and Regional Integration
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, and Slovakia

8. Migration to the UK after Brexit: policy, politics and public opinion

Author:
UK in a Changing Europe
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
Immigration, while far less salient than it was in 2016, is becoming a key political and policy issue again. This report not only analyses what has changed in terms of both outcomes and public opinion but considers how a future government might respond to the issue of migration, and the kinds of tradeoffs they will have to address. The report, which brings together authors from British Future, the Institute for Government, the Migration Observatory, the Social Market Foundation, and the KCL Policy Institute, among others, provides a comprehensive review of changes in policy, outcomes, and public opinion that have reshaped the landscape. The report shows the next government faces a number of challenges as the large post-Covid spike in arrivals has pushed immigration to the top of the political agenda again. Numbers peaked at the end of 2022, with 1.15 million long-term international migrants (those planning to stay at least a year) arriving in the UK over the previous 12 months, although net migration is likely to fall very sharply over the course of 2024. A new model for ‘humanitarian migration’ has emerged in the years since Brexit, with large inflows of migrants fleeing conflict in Ukraine and political oppression in Hong Kong. With a range of expert contributors, the report looks ahead at the choices for the next government, covering integration, asylum, the role of AI in helping us understand public views on immigration, humanitarian migration routes, student migration, economic migration, the legacy of the Windrush scandal, and much more.
Topic:
Migration, Politics, Public Opinion, and Brexit
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

9. UK trade 2024

Author:
Jonathan Portes, Sarah Hall, and Stephen Hunsaker
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
UK trade has, since the 2016 referendum, become a hotly debated subject. Which is not to say that it is simply a Brexit story; the uncertainties currently shaping UK trade are far from unique to the UK. Supply chain disruption associated with international conflicts, and a geo-political environment that is generally less conducive to trade, are impacting trade globally. In the immediate years following Brexit, trade data was complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic and a significant rise in global energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 2023 data released by the Office for National Statistics provides one of the first opportunities to assess the UK’s post-Brexit trade performance in detail. This report uses these data to set out the key recent trends in UK trade, outline where uncertainties lie and what the policy implications are.
Topic:
Brexit, Trade, COVID-19, Energy, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

10. UK-EU foreign, security and defence co-operation

Author:
Joelle Grogan, Jannike Wachowiak, and Richard Whitman
Publication Date:
03-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
UK in a Changing Europe, King's College London
Abstract:
With an election looming in the UK, war raging in Ukraine, and the prospect of another Trump presidency in the United States, the possible evolution of the foreign and security policy relationship between the UK and EU has taken on additional salience. The response to Russia’s war on Ukraine has shown that global events can increase UK-EU cooperation on foreign policy. However, while such major events could in future reinforce the sense of the shared challenges faced by the EU and the UK, they may not be sufficient to propel the EU and the UK towards a truly bespoke security and defence agreement. This new report highlights how Labour and the Conservatives differ in their approach to foreign policy with the EU, and what this could mean for the future relationship. It finds that the EU has well-established models for relationships with third countries for cooperation on foreign and security policy. None of these, however, seem appropriate for a country with the foreign policy and military heft of the UK. This in-depth study of UK-EU relations finds that there is scope for a new relationship, but the EU sees the ball as being ‘in the UK’s court’ to push for closer cooperation. It finds that while the EU is likely to welcome further cooperation on foreign policy and crisis management, it is developing a defence industrial strategy focussed on single market members and Ukraine. A bespoke deal involving UK and EU defence industries therefore will encounter significant hurdles.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, International Cooperation, Bilateral Relations, European Union, and Brexit
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe