Review and Reform: Options for Deepening EU-UK Cooperation in a Renewing Europe

Abstract

The paper examines options for the United Kingdom (UK) to deepen cooperation with the European Union (EU) after Brexit, going beyond the current Trade & Cooperation Agreement (TCA). In particular, the paper highlights the possibilities offered by the TCA review, mandated in 2026, and the avenues that this provides to revise the very limited free trade agreement currently in place between the EU and the UK. Moreover, the paper maps broader developments occurring in the European institutional landscape following the war in Ukraine, including the establishment of the European Political Community and the relaunch of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Council of Europe, and discusses how they create new opportunities for the UK to reconnect with the EU. Finally, the paper considers how transformations in the EU constitutional framework, and the process of enlargement to Ukraine, impact on European integration, with possible consequences for the position of the UK. The paper is of help to academics and policy-makers in thinking about the future of Europe and the EU-UK relationship.

Keywords: Brexit, EU Reforms, European Political Community, TCA Review,Trade & Cooperation Agreement