Brexit and the UK’s regional divide: a cautionary example

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany is increasingly debating regional development and regional policy issues. These debates are necessary and important. A look at the United Kingdom shows what distortions can result from leaving entire regions behind. In the 1990s, the UK was a state with a narrower regional divide than Germany but that situation has been reversed for quite some time now. It was particularly the underdeveloped regions of England that set the damaging Brexit momentum in motion. The British example is a timely reminder that regional policy is an important lever for stability and is an ongoing task that must not be neglected.

Brexit and the UK’s regional divide: a cautionary example(PDF, 166 KB, non-accessible)