UK withdrawal from EU membership: the quest for cake

The UK decision to leave the EU has raised the question of what form the post-Brexit UK-EU relationship will take. This chapter explores the development of the UK government’s position since the June 2016 referendum noting the persistent lack of domestic or indeed governmental consensus and the significant challenges the UK government has faced in reconciling the ambition of securing ‘a new strategic partnership … including a wide reaching, bold and ambitious free trade agreement’ with its own red lines on leaving the customs union, the single market and the jurisdiction of the CJEU. The chapter explores too the EU’s response and the manner in which implicit principles underpinning its external relations have become more explicit – encapsulated in the theme of ‘no cherry-picking’ – as the UK and the EU have moved beyond settling the terms of withdrawal to reaching agreement on the framework for their future relations. The chapter considers the evolution of the debate on options in the light of the EU’s existing privileged partnerships with European non-member neighbours and the principles and practices that underpin them.