the biggest setback for the European integration process since the failure , in 2005 , to approve the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe .
Brexit : a lever for relaunching the debate on the future of Europe
The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union provoked an even greater trauma than the rejection of a treaty or , more generally , any non-agreement . This was the exit of a Member State from the Union based on the rules laid down in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union . On 23 June 2016 , British voters did , in fact , vote to leave the European Union , by a very narrow margin ( 51.89 %) and with widely differing results across the UK . The Remain campaign won in London and Scotland , with 60 % and 62 % of the vote respectively , while the Leave campaign triumphed in areas with lower incomes and high unemployment .
Although the referendum was only advisory and non-binding , the political effect was gigantic and set in motion the tortuous process of the United Kingdom ’ s withdrawal from the European Union , which went on for years ; the formal announcement of the withdrawal was made in March 2017 but membership did not effectively end until January 2020 . The Brexit process strongly influenced the whole debate on the future of the European Union , prompting an internal debate about relaunching European integration . On 7 February 2018 , Parliament had already voted to reduce the number of Members of Parliament ( MEPs ) from 751 to 705 , but the postponement of the UK ’ s exit resulted in an election campaign in 2019 for the same number of parliamentary seats as previously , with the UK also electing MEPs , despite having already voted to leave the EU .
Expectations regarding the 2019 European elections were very
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