Between intergovernmental relations and paradiplomacy: Wales and the Brexit of the regions

Abstract

The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU) is an assertion of UK nation-state sovereignty. Notwithstanding this state-centrism, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have distinct interests to protect as part of the Brexit negotiations. This article explores how the interests of one regional case, Wales, were accommodated in the pre-negotiation phase, at a domestic level—through intergovernmental structures—and an EU level through paradiplomacy. We explore the structures for sub-state influence, Wales’ engagement with these structures and what has informed its approach. We argue that Wales’ behaviour reflects its positioning as a ‘Good Unionist’ and a ‘Good European’. Despite the weakness of intra-UK structures, Wales has preferred to pursue policy influence at a UK (not an EU) level. In Brussels, regional interests inform the context for Brexit. Here, Wales has focused on awareness-raising, highlighting that the UK Government does not command the ‘monopoly on perspectives’ towards Brexit in the United Kingdom.

Keywords

Brexit devolution EU intergovernmental relations paradiplomacy Wales

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aldecoa

(2009) Towards plurinational diplomacy in the deeper and wider European Union (1985–2005). Regional & Federal Studies 9(1): 82–94.

Committee of the Regions (2017) Resolution on the implications for local and regional government of the UK’s intention to withdraw from the European Union. In: 122nd plenary session, Brussels, 22–23 March, RESOL-VI/022.

Conference of Peripheral and Maritime Regions (CPMR) (2017) CPMR calls for regions to be represented in Brexit negotiations. Available at: http://cpmr.org/cohesion/cpmr-calls-for-regions-to-be-represented-in-brexit-negotiations/11809/ (CPMR website, accessed 8 August 2017).

Drakeford

(2016) Presentation of welsh government’s ten points on Brexit. In: What Will Brexit Mean for Wales? Conference, Swansea University, Swansea, 25 November.

Duchacek

(1990) Perforated sovereignties: Towards a typology of new actors in international relations. In: Michelmann

Saldatos

(eds) Federalism in International Relations: The Role of Subnational Units. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 1–33.

Elazar

(1987) Exploring Federalism. Tuscaloosa and London: University of Alabama Press.

European Parliament (2017) The impact of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union on Scotland Wales and Gibraltar. Report for the European Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Directorate General for Internal Policies, April.

Gallagher

(2012) Intergovernmental relations in the UK: Co-operation, competition and constitutional change. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 14(2): 198–213.

Gormley-Heenan

Aughey

(2017) Northern Ireland and Brexit: Three effects on ‘the Border in the Mind’. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 19(3): 497–511.

10.

Hocking

(1999) Patrolling the ‘frontier’: Globalization, localization and the ‘actorness’ of non-central governments. In: Aldecoa

Keating

(eds) Paradiplomacy in Action: The Foreign Relations of Subnational Governments. London; Portland, OR: Frank Cass Publishers, pp.17–39.

11.

Hooghe

Marks

(2016) Community, Scale and Regional Governance: A Postfunctionalist Theory of Governance. Oxford: OUP.

12.

House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution (2015) Inter-Governmental relations in the United Kingdom. In: 11th Report of Session 2014–2015, HL paper 146.

13.

Hunt

(2017) Devolution. In: Dougan

(ed.) The UK After Brexit: Legal and Political Challenges. Cambridge: Intersentia Ltd, pp. 35–32.

14.

Hunt

Minto

Woolford

(2016) Winners and losers: The EU Referendum vote and its consequences for Wales. Journal of Contemporary European Research 12(4): 824–834.

15.

Keating

(1999) Regions and international affairs: Motives, opportunities and strategies. In: Aldecoa

Keating

(eds) Paradiplomacy in Action: The Foreign Relations of Subnational Governments. London; Portland, OR: Frank Cass Publishers, pp. 1–16.

16.

Lecours

(2002) Paradiplomacy: Reflections on the foreign policy and international relations of regions. International Negotiation 7(1): 91–114.

17.

McHarg

Mitchell

(2017) Brexit and Scotland. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 19(3): 512–526.

18.

May

(2017) Lancaster House Speech: The Government’s negotiating objectives for exiting the EU. 17 January. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-governments-negotiating-objectives-for-exiting-the-eu-pm-speech (accessed 8 August 2017).

19.

Minister-President Office of Flanders (2016) Pragmatic approach to a soft Brexit (Press release), 24 June. Available at: https://www.flandersinvestmentandtrade.com/en/news/press-release-minister-president-office-%E2%80%9Cpragmatic-approach-soft-brexit%E2%80%9D (accessed 8 August 2017).

20.

Minto

Hunt

Keating

. (2016) A changing UK in a changing Europe: The UK state between European Union and devolution. The Political Quarterly 87(2): 179–186.

21.

Mitchell

(1995) Lobbying ‘Brussels’: The case of Scotland Europa. European Urban and Regional Studies 2(4): 287–298.

22.

Palmer

(2003) European integration and intra-state relations in Germany and the United Kingdom. Perspectives on European Politics and Society 4(3): 363–389.

23.

Paun

Miller

(2016) Four Nation Brexit: How the UK and devolved governments should work together on leaving the EU. Report from the Institute of Government, Institute for Government, 21 October. Avaliable at: https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publications/four-nation-brexit (accessed 26 June 2017).

24.

Royles

(2017) Sub-state diplomacy: Understanding the international opportunity structures. Regional and Federal Studies 27(4): 393–416.

25.

Scottish Government (2016) Scotland’s place in Europe. White Paper, 20 December. Available at: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/12/9234 (accessed 8 August 2017).

26.

Stein

(1989) Getting to the table: Processes of international prenegotiation. International Journal (Special issue) 44(2): 231–236.

27.

Tatham

(2008) Going solo: Direct regional representation in the European Union. Regional & Federal Studies 18(5): 493–515.

28.

Tatham

(2016) With, without, or against the State? How European Regions Play the Brussels Game. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

29.

Thomas

(2016) Sturgeon to meet Juncker today in Brussels. Financial Times, 29 June. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/4ba488bd-0de9-33df-a3cf-9e2e47ea3298 (accessed 8 August 2017).

30.

UK Government, et al. (2013) Memorandum of understanding and supplementary agreements: Between the United Kingdom Government, the Scottish Ministers, the Welsh Ministers, and the Northern Ireland Executive Committee, October 2013. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/316157/MoU_between_the_UK_and_the_Devolved_Administrations.pdf (accessed 8 August 2017).

31.

UK Government (2016a) Joint Ministerial Committee (EU Negotiations) Communiqué, 7 December. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/575739/07122016JMCENDraftcommuniqueupdated.docx.pdf (accessed 8 August 2017).

32.

UK Government (2016b) Joint Ministerial Committee (EU Negotiations) Communiqué, 9 November. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/567368/Joint_Ministerial_Committee_communique__-_9_November_2016.pdf (accessed 8 August 2017).

33.

UK Government (2016c) Terms of reference for JMC (EU Negotiations). Presented in Joint Ministerial Committee Communiqué from JMC (Plenary), 24 October. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/562364/joint-ministerial-committee-communique-24-october-2016.pdf (accessed 8 August 2017).

34.

UK Government (2017) The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union White Paper, 2 February.

35.

Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru (2017) Securing Wales’ future: Transition from the European Union to a new relationship with Europe. White Paper, 23 January. Available at: https://beta.gov.wales/brexit (accessed 8 August 2017).

36.

Wyn Jones

Poole

Ifan

(2016) Wales and the EU Referendum: Estimating Wales’ net contribution to the European Union. Wales Governance Centre Report, Cardiff University, May. Available at: http://sites.cardiff.ac.uk/wgc/files/2016/05/Estimating-Wales%E2%80%99-Net-Contribution-to-the-European-Union.pdf (accessed 8 August 2017).