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Taking back control? How has the UK diverged from the EU since Brexit?

“Le Plan has always been a forum. It publishes its own research but also channels stimulating ideas from outside, by authors who are free to defend their viewpoint. That is the purpose of Le Plan’s Collection and this contribution on Brexit, six years later. Far from “taking back control”, it appears the United Kingdom has followed or reproduced most European regulation (without taking part in its elaboration), for the simple reason that the EU’s internal market is more powerful than its own. True sovereignty, in contrast with misleading promises, means deciding on the substance and not just on the surface.”

Clément Beaune, High Commissioner for Strategy and Planning

Published on : 30/01/2026

Temps de lecture

2 minutes

« Six years ago on January 31st 2020, following the 2016 Brexit referendum, the United Kingdom decided to separate itself from the European Union. One of the key promises made by Brexit advocates was that the country would be free to diverge from EU regulation. To what extent has this promise been translated into reality?

For the past four years, UK in a Changing Europe – a non-partisan academic research institute based at King’s College London – has produced a quarterly ‘Divergence Tracker’, which studies how UK regulations have diverged from the EU since Brexit. Running to fifteen reports and over 450 case studies, it provides the single-most comprehensive resource on the extent of post-Brexit divergence available in the public domain.

The data from the Divergence Trackers shows that, despite bold initial plans to repeal EU law across a wide range of areas, in most sectors other than financial services the UK has done little to diverge. The current government is now seeking greater regulatory ‘alignment’ (formal adherence to EU legislation) in order to deepen UK-EU economic ties. »

Joël Reland, Research fellow at UK in a changing Europe, King's College London

Author

Joël Reland

Chercheur au Centre UK in a changing Europe, King's College, Londres

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Taking back control? How has the UK diverged from the EU since Brexit?

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