AFTERMATH OF BREXIT FOR WALES

Abstract

After withdrawal of the UK from the EU its Celtic regions (Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales) faced a deterioration in the conditions for their socio-economic development and began to demand from B. Johnson to revise the principles of interaction between central government and local authorities in favor of expanding devolution. In Wales, separatist tendencies have not reached the same magnitude as in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, an acute confrontation arose at the intergovernmental level – the M. Drakeford’s Labour government protests against B. Johnson’s regional policy. The most acute contradictions arose against the background of the application of the UK Internal Market Act 2020 and the inability of the British government to compensate the region for the loss of subsidies from the EU structural funds after Brexit. To put pressure on the central government, Labour Party in Wales organized a special commission in October 2021 to consider separating the region from the United Kingdom and transferring additional powers to the local authority. This fact indicates the growth of a deep systemic crisis in the country, which makes the regions doubt the ability of the central government to effectively use its instruments to cope with the consequences of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.