ABSTRACT
In the European Parliament (EP), the departure of the UK had an immediate effect: the 73 UK members of the EP have left the plenary, committees and delegations of the EP. Already on 28 June 2018, the European Council had decided the new composition of the EP in the case of Brexit. The legislation was meant to take effect in 2019, but the UK stayed on and participated one last time in the elections to the EP in 2019. European Union (EU) citizens could perceive the UK to be worse off outside of the bloc and thus treat it as a cautionary tale, strengthening support for their own country’s membership of the EU. Initial evidence supports this view, with survey data collected in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership showing that support for EU membership modestly increased throughout other EU Member States.
