Inside the Deal: How the EU Got Brexit Done — How Unity Became Leverage

Crisis in Perception · Aug 8, 2026 · 49m

What happens to negotiating power when a country leaves the institution whose rules it once helped shape?

Welcome to Crisis in Perception, where we examine the systems shaping our world.

Inside the Deal: How the EU Got Brexit Done by Stefaan De Rynck provides a first-hand account of the Brexit negotiations from inside Michel Barnier’s European Union team. De Rynck argues that many assumptions surrounding the negotiations misunderstood how the EU actually operated—and therefore misunderstood where its bargaining power came from.

This episode examines the institutional architecture beneath the…