European Union and United Kingdom: Masters of their own destiny?

  • Guillem Colom-Piella Pablo de Olavide University, Spain
  • Beatriz Cózar Murillo Pablo de Olavide University, Spain
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/ced.2521
Keywords: Brexit, United Kingdom, European Union, European defence, PESCO

Abstract

After having consummated Brexit and defined a new British security and defense strategy, London and Brussels face the need to continue collaborating in a world characterized by a growing competition great power competition. Although the United Kingdom has chosen to prioritize its freedom of action by strengthening its “special relationship” with the United States, radically reforming its armed forces and drawing up a more dynamic foreign policy, the European Union is and will always be an inescapable step on its way, as demonstrated by forums such as E3 and EI2. Without a definitive framework that establishes the rules that will govern the relations between both actors in the field of defense, and taking into account the existing links in industrial matters and the perception of risks and threats, Brussels and London will have to establish bridges and find an accommodation for British participation in mechanisms such as PESCO. The article will focus on the definition of the post-Brexit British defence and security policies and the remaining open issues in this field with the European Union.

Received: 24 January 2022
Accepted: 08 June 2022

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Author Biographies

Guillem Colom-Piella, Pablo de Olavide University, Spain

BA degrees in Sociology and Political Science, and a MA degree in International Relations from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and a PhD in International Security from the General Gutiérrez Mellado University Institute (UNED). He is a professor of Political Science at the Pablo de Olavide University, an associate researcher at the Autonomous University of Chile and a full member of the Academy of Military Sciences and Arts. Before joining the university, he worked in the Armed Forces Transformation Unit of Spanish Defence Staff, supporting the processes of military transformation, defence planning and capability development. He still participates as a subject matter expert in EU, NATO and multinational defence and military projects. His lines of research focus on Strategic Studies, in particular defence policies and military innovation processes. He is the author of numerous academic and professional works in defence and military affairs. He has received the 3rd Army Prize (2005), the 1st Army Prize (2015 and 2019) and the 1st Prize of the Aeronautics and Astronautics Magazine (2016).

Beatriz Cózar Murillo, Pablo de Olavide University, Spain

Bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Seville. Master in European Studies from the University of Salamanca. PhD candidate in Legal and Political Sciences at Pablo de Olavide University (Seville) and in Political Sciences at the University of Gent (Belgium). Assistant lecturer of Public International Law and International Relations at the University of Cadiz, in which she has taught in English and Spanish during the period 2020-2022. Author of several publications in the field of Strategic Studies and, in particular, on the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union.

Published
2022-09-27
How to Cite
Colom-Piella, Guillem, and Beatriz Cózar Murillo. 2022. “European Union and United Kingdom: Masters of Their Own Destiny?”. Deusto Journal of European Studies, no. 67 (September), 61-94. https://doi.org/10.18543/ced.2521.
Issue
No. 67 (2022)
Section
Articles

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