Brexit will have important implications for the role of the EU and the UK in international affairs. The Policy paper by Nicole Koenig, senior research fellow at the Jacques Delors Institut – Berlin, our office in Germany, analyses the consequences in the fields of diplomacy, development and crisis management. The analysis shows that both sides are likely to lose in terms of global influence and power.

The paper presents a dual strategy that could lead to a win-win outcome. First, the EU should seize the political momentum created by Brexit to relaunch its foreign and security policy and sharpen its profile as a comprehensive power. Second, the EU and the UK should seek to reconnect post-Brexit and establish close ties in foreign and security policy. The paper presents four models of cooperation and suggests cooperating with the UK through a “Norway Plus” model that builds on and extends existing forms of differentiated inclusion.