Publication

This paper discusses the debate in Britain over the possibility of leaving the EU, the main political actors involved in this debate and public opinion on the issue. In general, the author contends that there is a serious possibility that the UK could leave the EU and that the main driver of this potentiality is not public opinion but the influence of an anti-EU political elite that has conflated the debate over EU membership with one about migration. The author also discusses 1) what a British exit from the EU could mean for the rest of Europe; and 2) what the EU can do influence the debate in the UK over membership.