Differentiated Integration in Europe After Brexit: An Institutional Analysis

It is self-evident that the European Union has evolved over time and so has the relationship between unity and differentiation. Understanding the nature of this evolution is more difficult. This essay seeks to explicate this development, not by a temporal analysis, but by delineating two opposite political visions of the European construction. The first is the vision that is centred on the idea, or ideal, of an "ever closer union among the peoples of Europe". The other vision of Europe postulates a wide and loose union, a sort of 'club' where the members do not necessarily wish to change the current state of things. The differing solutions provided by these visions are examined with regard, first, to some mechanisms of differentiated integration, which are considered against the twin criteria of clarity and coherence and, second, with regard to other legal mechanisms, which imply an interaction between EU members and third countries. This can be useful for a better understanding of the institutional and legal options that are available for the relations between the UK and the EU in the post-Brexit period.