The Dynamics of De‐Europeanisation in a Multilevel Context: Resistance and Power Politics in Scotland and Wales

Abstract

In recent years, theoretical models which seek to capture the dynamics of European integration and Europeanisation have turned their attention to new processes of disintegration and de‐Europeanisation, presenting new understandings of where politics, policy‐makers and public opinion have moved to roll back integration. In this article, looking at the process of de‐Europeanisation in Scotland and Wales since 2016, we take forward this scholarship by providing a nuanced assessment of the multilevel effects of these processes and their implications. We find that despite their governments' ambitions to retain agency over the speed and direction of de‐Europeanisation in Scotland and Wales, their resistance to the overall UK‐led direction of travel has thus far produced few results due to the continued constitutional dominance of the UK Government. We argue that this expands current understandings of de‐Europeanisation in practice as we draw attention to the prevalence of ‘forced de‐Europeanisation’, which has prevented these devolved governments of the UK from substantiating their particular re‐engagement preferences. Consequently, the extent of differentiation in the processes of de‐Europeanisation across the territories of the United Kingdom because of Brexit has been limited, contrasting sharply with the differentiated model of Europeanisation, which existed during British EU membership.