ABSTRACT
British membership of the European Union (EU) comprises participation in the Union's actions on the international stage. This chapter looks at the effects of Brexit on the EU as an international actor. The main features of the EU as an international actor can be divided into three interlinked dimensions: the EU as an economic actor, as a political actor and as a security actor. The chapter presents the likely implications in these three fields of European foreign policy: trade and related areas, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). With respect to CSDP governance, Britain and France have been the main architects in the CSDP since the Saint Malo meeting in 1998. Because of the British and French traditions and capacity for global military engagements, they play a key role in shaping the structures of the CFSP.
