Brexit enthusiasts argue that to maintain and improve its position in the world economy the UK doesn’t need to be part of the European Union. But research published in Changing Urban and Regional Relations in Europe: Europe as a Global Macro-region paints a different picture.

The two and a half year study* by Kathy Pain and Gilles Van Hamme with academics in the UK, Belgium, France, Italy, Bulgaria and Sweden, identifies for the first time just how functionally interconnected and integrated the European economic space really is. […]