A PRODUCT of myriad compromises, an amalgam of generations' worth of visions, a form of government without precedent or parallel: the EU is a strange beast. Its uniqueness gives it a certain mystique. No one knows for sure how durable it is. Small wonder, then, that Britain's vote in 2016 to leave gave some in Brussels nightmares. No member state had quit before. The departure process had only been codified in 2009, in Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon. Could this falling domino crash into the next: Denmark, perhaps, or even France? Could it create a precedent others might follow? Could it bring down the EU?
Television coverage of the Brexiteers' victory on the morning of the result is said to have transfixed Angela Merkel. EU leaders were particularly worried that Britain would use the differing interests and outlooks of the remaining 27 member states to play them off against each other and thus secure generous terms preserving the benefits of membership without the costs. So they hurried to...
The Economist: Europe