European Integration Tendencies in the Context of Brexit

The research paper “European Integration Tendencies in the Context of Brexit” is dedicated to the influence of the decision of the UK to leave the EU on the future European integration and structural and institutional changes that it may undergo. The relevance of the research is explained by the uniqueness of the event, when a national state decides to withdraw from the EU. This occasion results in mass public response and the opinion that Brexit might provoke European disintegration. However, the hypothesis implies that Brexit is an indicator of structural and institutional crisis of the EU, rather than a trigger to a disintegrational process. The research relies on neo-neo-functional approach developed by Phillip C. Schmitter. Neofunctionalism explains disintegrational elements in a regional integration, thus compensates for the lack of theory of disintegration. Phillip C. Schmitter adds alternative strategies of integrational processes to spill-over, inherent in functionalism, particularly the opposite spill-back. Consequently, Brexit is considered a spill-back, necessary to the future efficient integration. The research finds the following integration tendencies: increase in Euroscepticism (“new Euroscepticism” is defined), growth in populism (“new populism” is given definition to), differentiation of states and the likeliness of flexible integration meanwhile the determination to intensification of regional integration.