It may seem a far-fetched idea but what if the UK were to become a special sovereignty within the EU? And in that case, what can post-Brexit Britain learn from Hong Kong, which has been designated a special administrative region within China?
Similarly, the UK is often referred to as “Britain” even though geographically and technically “Britain” refers only to the island of Great Britain, which comprises England, Wales and Scotland – but not Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.
Theoretically, could the UK re-enter the EU as a distinct member with a special administrative name? Could a “Europe’s UK” concept be explored?
Political decision-making can be intimately affected by geography, as illustrated in Tim Marshall’s bestselling book, Prisoners of Geography, first published in 2015. For the UK, one of a clutch of island nations that are part of the European continent, rejoining the EU may well be a question of “to be or not to be”.
