For the EU to work, outlying member states should opt for associative membership

Brexit has triggered a qualitative change in the nature of EU membership. Annette Bongardt and Francisco Torres argue that countries with preferences that are too divergent from the rest of the EU should opt for an associative membership status. They conclude that with the eurozone having established itself as the de facto core of European integration, the UK’s preference for a stand-alone economic union had become untenable even before the vote.