The LSE Commission on the Future of Britain in Europe aimed to inform the national debate on Britain’s membership of the European Union, with high quality, evidence-based and balanced analysis.
Its purpose was to meet the public need for reliable information in the run-up to the national referendum.
The work of the Commission concentrated on a series of expert hearings convened by LSE academics. Participants included senior British and EU public officials, policy practitioners, academics, think tanks, journalists and business representatives.
The hearings examined “negotiation issues”, the options for a reconfigured UK-EU relationship and the wider impact of a Brexit on the UK, as well as on the EU as a whole.
The convenors’ reports of their individual hearings contributed to a final report setting out an overall assessment of the case for continued British EU membership or a Brexit. You can read a summary of the report here and each report here.
The Commission was coordinated by Professor Iain Begg of the LSE European Institute.
Join the discussion on the Future of Britain in Europe on Twitter using: #LSEBrexit
Posts by Commission participants
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Without EU clout, how would the UK fare at the United Nations?
Outside the EU, the UK would have to forge new alliances in international diplomacy. Karen E Smith and Katie Laatikainen consider how it would affect the UK’s ...more
Diplomacy post-Brexit: the UK sidelined and Nato damaged
We joined the EEC to give Britain more heft in a post-Empire world, says Sir Brian Crowe: it was never simply a trade project. If we ...more
Wake up, students - the freedoms you take for granted are under threat
Students have come to take freedom of movement - for study, for work and to travel - for granted, says Beth Button. Some don't realise the ...more
Sovereignty is an illusion: the UK should use its power-sharing experience to play a constructive role in the EU
The UK's 'Westminster model' of sovereign governance has had its day, claim Jo Murkens and Simon Toubeau. They argue that the recent transformation of the British party system and devolution have eroded ...more
Emergency brakes on migration: neither novel nor effective
The 'emergency brake' is not the first time member states have tried to restrict freedom of movement within the EU. Indeed, after the enlargements in ...more
Enough of the hegemony: why Germany really wants the UK to stay in the EU
A European Union without Britain would make Germany even more dominant - but that is not necessarily what Angela Merkel wants, as Hans Kundnani explains. ...more
The UK needs the EU - but the EU needs the UK, too
What might a UK exit from the European Union mean for Europe’s future? A recent hearing of the ‘LSE Commission on Britain’s Future in Europe’ ...more
Cameron needs to convince both the member states and the EU institutions before his own side
The renegotiation of the UK’s membership has left many baffled as to what exactly Prime Minister David Cameron’s strategy really was. As David Spence argues, ...more
British universities excel in the social sciences. How much of their success depends on the EU?
Some British academics have argued that the social sciences would suffer if the UK left the Union, on the grounds that the EU brings funding and ...more
Waking up to a nightmare? A UK exit from the EU would be a ‘lose-lose’ for both sides
What might a UK exit from the European Union mean for Europe’s future? So far, the Brexit debate has been largely concentrated within these islands and ...more