‘Soft Brexit’ is not an option

Abstract:

In the discussions on Brexit, analysts and political observers tend to presume that negotiations on a new framework for the relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom will revolve around a compromise that would allow the UK to limit the free circulation of EU workers, while maintaining access to the EU single market, especially for services, more or less under the current rules.

Pisani-Ferry et al. (2016) have gone so far as to propose a Continental Partnership (CP), in which the UK would not only be able to limit the free movement of persons, but would also have a seat in a ‘Council’ in charge of legislative coordination between the UK and the EU with the power to propose amendments to draft European legislation (although the European Parliament would not be obliged to accept them).

These ideas in reality mimic arrangements already in existence within the European Economic Area (EEA). However, the more time passes and issues are dissected, the more I grow convinced that an agreement on those terms with the UK will prove impossible.