Can Brexit be a Win Win ?

Later this month PM May will give a speach about Brexit, and present more information about what kind of Brexit the UK will head for. Until then the public will have to speculate and guess.

The signals so far indicate that May thinks it is possible for the UK to get a relationship with the EU which makes it possible for the country to control immigration and have sufficient access to the Single Market. Many disagree with such an optimistic view and believe that UK will have to choose. It is probably impossible to say who is right before it is negotiated.

Some believe that the EU will "punish" the UK, so that other member states are not tempted to withdraw. But that is a short-sighted analysis. For the EU to be meaningful the member states must thrive and feel that participation in the Union is something positive. The membership shall not be a burden and straitjacket. If a country wants another form of relationship than membership, the EU should be flexible. The EU must develop its organization and policies so that the Union is perceived as a positive and necessary complement to the nation states of Europe - not as a supranational unit for big government.

The EEA agreement is an example of how countries which do not want a EU membership can interact with the Union. The relationship is not perpect. Far from. But in spite of the shortcomings, it has been useful for the participants. 

So it is quite possible to imagine a Brexit agreement which is positive for the UK and also for the EU - if it shows that the Union can adapt constructively when a country thinks that membership does not provide added value.