How Theresa May can win her game of chicken with the EU

She must throw the steering wheel out the window

Theresa May.
(Image credit: Chris Radburn - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Brexit is one of the most complicated affairs in policy. Dozens of trade treaties have to be renegotiated. Tens of thousands of pages of European law have to be replaced. And, of course, Britain wants to work out a custom deal with the European Union whereby, in essence, the island gets all the benefits of being in the EU — trade, especially — without any of the drawbacks — paying money, having to give up sovereignty.

This is where, on top of the mind-boggling technocratic complexity, the politics come in. Negotiating such a deal would be a headache in any situation. But many Eurocrats also want to "punish" Britain for trying to leave the EU. Their logic goes like this: If Britain does well out of leaving the European Union, then more countries might start to leave, and the EU project might unravel. Therefore, the EU should make sure that Britain suffers through Brexit, pour encourager les autres.

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Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry is a writer and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His writing has appeared at Forbes, The Atlantic, First Things, Commentary Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Quartz, and other places. He lives in Paris with his beloved wife and daughter.