Portugal’s strategic response to Brexit: enduring Europeanisation?

Abstract

Portugal is an often neglected country in the literature on small European states and one which is significantly exposed to the effects of Brexit. While being a core EU member, Portugal has a historic alliance with the United Kingdom, sharing with it an Atlanticist outlook. Drawing on the literature on small states, New Institutionalism and Europeanisation, this article deals with the effects of Brexit on Portugal’s European strategy. More specifically, it examines the country’s coping strategies vis-à-vis Brexit, the underlying drivers of these diplomatic responses, as well as their implications for the Europeanisation of Portuguese foreign policy. It is argued that Portugal has hedged its bets to balance a firm EU commitment, the protection of important ties with the UK and a strong NATO engagement. In so doing, the country has exhibited an enduring but limited foreign policy Europeanisation, even more cautiously pragmatic than in the past.