‘Defend and extend’: British business strategy, EU employment policy and the emerging politics of Brexit

Abstract

As the British government embarks upon the process of exiting the European Union (EU), it will have to navigate the preferences of powerful business interest groups. However, the British politics and political economy literatures have tended to neglect the question of business agency in general and its relation to EU integration in particular. This article analyses British business strategy in relation to EU employment policy between 2010 and 2016. Through a document analysis of business responses to the Balance of Competences Review on EU Employment Policy and Confederation of British Industry (CBI) policy documents, the article argues that British business has attempted to ‘defend and extend’ a liberalising agenda within the EU in the recent past. Brexit fundamentally undermines this strategic orientation. The article accordingly outlines some of the key strategic dilemmas which the ‘Leave’ vote generates for British capital within the emerging politics of Brexit.