Brexit and Implications for the Free Movement of Capital

Abstract

One misleading mantra in the Brexit debate is that the EU’s single market freedoms were inseparable. This article takes a micro-legal research approach in examining the question: to what extent would free movement of capital be available to the UK when the UK leaves the EU’s single market? The free movement of capital is the only one of the EU’s fundamental freedoms that extends beyond Member States to also apply to third countries. Like other fundamental freedoms, it extends beyond equal treatment to require market access. This article argues that free movement of capital would still be available to the UK post-Brexit, as all restrictions to free movement of capital are prohibited unless justified under EU law. It argues that as long as the post-Brexit legal context in the UK remains comparable with that of the EU, the justifiable derogations to free movement of capital would not apply against the UK. Thus, the mantra that the EU’s single market freedoms were inseparable is misleading.