Bounded rationality and the Brexit negotiations

Why Britain failed to understand the EU

Bibliographic Data

ID6289469
AuthorsFilipa Figueira (0000-0002-2987-011X, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, London, UK), Benjamin Martill (0000-0003-2505-1624, Politics and International Relations, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume28
Issue12
Pages1871-1889
Publication date2021-12-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of European Public Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1350-1763 • E-ISSN: 1466-4429
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13501763.2020.1810103
OpenAlexW3069944807
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited48

Research on the Brexit negotiations has linked the problems faced by Britain to flawed assumptions in the UK's perception of EU interests. These include the idea that the EU would be open to compromise on key principles, that it would offer the UK a bespoke relationship, that national capitals would respond favourably to bilateral initiatives, and that EU unity would not hold. Yet the origins of these assumptions have been subject to little systematic scrutiny. How did such wrong-headed assumptions about the EU's interests emerge? Drawing on insights from bounded rationality we identify three aspects of the decision-making environment linked with biased thinking: (1) ill-fitting routines and lessons, (2) a lack of decision-making openness, and (3) a lack of EU expertize and contact. We demonstrate our argument using data obtained from interviews in Brussels and London in 2017–18 and accounts of those involved in the decisions

Argument (complex analysis · Bespoke · Bounded rationality · Brexit · Compromise · Economics · European union · International trade · Law and economics · Microeconomics · Negotiation · Openness to experience · Political science · Positive economics · Rationality · Scrutiny · Sociology · Subject (documents · Computer Science · European and International Law Studies · European Union Policy and Governance · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Psychology · Social Psychology

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