From Insider to Outsider: The UK’s Shift to External Differentiated Integration in Law Enforcement

Abstract This paper aims to explain how the EU and UK have succeeded in continuing a close law enforcement cooperation post-Brexit, considering the UK’s differentiated EU integration. While it might be easy to focus on the British opt-outs and lukewarm engagement in this domain, it will be argued here that recognising the tangible benefits of joint operational work, prior to Brexit the UK had evolved from a reluctant participant to an aligned actor which actively engaged with EU structures post-Brexit. As will be established through empirical material, practitioners on both sides not only advocated to preserve a maximum of the arrangements, but also dutifully implement the provisions and proactively resolve arising problems since the Agreement’s implementation. A conceptual analysis will demonstrate that the UK exemplified a case of aligned differentiated EU integration.