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This concluding chapter explores the connections between Brexit and EU reforms. The case for reforming the EU is not new. In recent years, multiple national and supranational leaders have put forward proposals to overhaul the EU and make it fit for the new challenges it faces. Moreover, think tanks, public intellectuals, and academic scholars have increasingly been reflecting on the future of Europe and suggesting plans ahead. This book joins this lively debate, but seeks to go beyond it by contributing with ideas on how to move the EU forward, post-Covid-19. In particular, as the launch of the Conference on the Future of Europe approaches, this book not only supports this effort, claiming that this is an indispensable step following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. It also provides insights for policy-makers involved in the process, especially suggesting that a Political Compact for a more democratic and effective union can represent the avenue to relaunch the project of integration and renew Europe’s future.

This chapter examines the contribution of recognized activities that make the UK economy, such as the progress in research, pharmaceuticals, technology, software, and innovation that can be traced back to the intellectual powerhouses of UK's institutions of higher learning. It recounts the UK's love–hate relationship with the City of London, wherein the banks are still blamed for the financial crisis of 2007–2009 and the subsequent stagnation and fall in incomes. It also cites finance as the highest UK earner of overseas income and is a magnet for international institutions. The chapter describes London as the biggest financial centre outside New York and has attracted even greater numbers of skilled financial traders since the EU referendum result of 2016. It explains how the UK financial sector accommodated trading, provided credit, and raised new capital for troubled firms and those seeking post-Covid-19 opportunities.

This chapter focuses on the European Union after Brexit and articulates the case for constitutional reforms. Reforms are necessary to address the substantive and institutional shortcomings that patently emerged in the context of Europe’s old and new crises. Moreover, reforms will be compelled by the exigencies of the post-Covid-19 EU recovery, which pushes the EU towards new horizons in terms of fiscal federalism and democratic governance. As a result, the chapter considers both obstacles and opportunities to reform the EU and make it more effective and legitimate. On the one hand, it underlines the difficulties connected to the EU treaty amendment procedure, owing to the requirement of unanimous approval of any treaty change, and the consequential problem of the veto. On the other hand, it emphasizes the increasing practice by Member States to use intergovernmental agreements outside the EU legal order and stresses that these have set new rules on their entry into force which overcome state veto, suggesting that this is now a precedent to consider.