The UK referendum in 2016 revealed deep popular disaffection with the European Union (EU) – in particular, on the part of working-class communities that felt that they had been left behind, with their cohesion and their very identity under threat. Some of the roots of this disaffection may lie elsewhere – in national government policies or in the effects of globalisation more generally. The disaffection may also have been stoked by opportunistic politicians. This report addresses three questions arising from this:

• Was this a uniquely British malaise, or did it tell a more general story about the European project and the European citizen?
• What are the roots of this disaffection and how appropriate is it to lay the blame at Europe’s door?
• What reforms to the European project might address this malaise – and maybe in the process save the EU itself from further disintegration?