Bringing the EU Back In: Rethinking the United Kingdom's Post‐Brexit Bilateralism
本文分析英国脱欧后与欧盟成员国签订的双边协议，指出这些协议受限于欧盟法律和政治义务，实际上并未使英国脱离欧盟影响，对理解英国脱欧后的外交策略有参考价值。
Abstract Although the bilateral deals it has struck with European neighbours are a key element of the United Kingdom's post‐Brexit diplomacy, it would be a mistake to view these understandings as evidence that the United Kingdom has escaped the EU's influence or orbit. Since the United Kingdom's co‐signatories are bound by their legal and political commitments as EU member states, the deals they can conclude with non‐members are limited. Inspired by the work of John Erik Fossum and his collaborators on post‐Brexit Norway–UK relations, this article argues that the United Kingdom's interaction with EU member states forms one side of a triangular relationship constrained by both the obligations on the United Kingdom's European partners qua member states and EU–UK agreements. Drawing on a systematic analysis of UK bilaterals signed with EU countries since 2021, it shows how their form, scope and content are thereby limited by these constraints, with important implications for the United Kingdom's strategy of bilateralism post‐Brexit.