Some elements to understand Brexit and its impact on the theories of regionalism

Abstract

On June 23rd 2016, the British decided, through a referendum, to abandon the European Union. This paper seeks to provide elements to answer to related questions: 1- Which were the factors that drove Brexit? 2- How does this phenomenon affect the theories that explain the conformation of regional agreements? To approach the first question, the article discusses the role of interest representation in the calling of the referendum, and then analyses the construction of those interests through the role of ideas. Secondly, it examines how this event questions the approaches that suggest a unidirectional path to the conformation of regional agreements, and on the contrary, it emphasises the need of developing new theoretical instruments to explain the mixed results in terms of integration and disintegration that we currently observe in the global economy.