THE FUTURE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AFTER BREXIT HOW TO GO FORWARD OR HOW TO GO BACK?

MIŠČEVIĆ Tanja (Tanja Miščević, PhD. Associated Professor of the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade),
NEDELJKOVIĆ Stevan (Stevan Nedeljković, MA. Teaching Assistant at Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade)

The question about the future of the European Union, formerly European Communities, is set from its beginning. The EU has always aroused the interest of researchers, because its nature, structure and level of organization are not so usual. It is not a typical international organization, not even the state, but it is an example of the most advanced regional integration that has ever existed. Over time, it faced a large number of crises and always came out stronger. Last in a series of crises was caused by the decision of British citizens to choose the option ‘Leave’ in the referendum on June 23, 2016. Since then, the interest of researchers for the future of the European Union seems to be greater than ever. The key objective of this article is to analyse the options which the European Union has for its operation in the future. Also, we will try to determine which factors influenced the decision of Britain to leave the EU.

Keywords: European Union, Britain, Brexit, EU future, Article 50, negotiation, unity