Britain and the Puzzle of European Union

Andrew Duff is one of Europe’s leading federalist thinkers. He was a prominent British Member of the European Parliament and Liberal spokesman on constitutional affairs from 1999 to 2014. Duff is a long-standing campaigner for the reform of the European Union. He opposed the holding of the Brexit referendum as well as its result.

• Introduction 1. Adrift 2. Engaged 3. Moored 4. Retreat 5. Deluge 6. Article 50 7. Secession 8. Neighbourhood 9. The State of Britain 10. The State of Europe 11. Détente

"Andrew Duff has been one of the shrewdest critics of Brexit. Now he becomes one of its first historians, putting what happened to his own country firmly within the context of the EU’s wider challenges. Anyone interested in the debate on the future of Europe should read Duff’s book."Michel Barnier"Andrew Duff’s fine book is a serious reflection on the lessons of the often tortured relationship between Britain and the European Union and in the failings of the Brexit process.He is right that British departure leaves the EU smaller, weaker and poorer; he is also right that it provides a real opportunity for the EU to focus more seriously on enhancing the capacity of all its institutions to act more decisively; and for it to rethink the way in which it best interacts with its near neighbourhood, including a UK which will not rejoin, but with which a much more complex relationship needs to be built than the one reflected in the rather flimsy Trade and Co-operation Agreement struck last December."Ivan Rogers