Coalition building and coalition patterns are becoming an increasingly important research
problem in European studies, as membership of the European Union has doubled in recent
decades, and cooperation between Member States has deepened and now covers even more
policy areas. Relations between Member States in decision-making processes have been further
marked by Brexit, which has left the UK, who was considered a tough negotiator, out of
negotiations. In my master's thesis, through analysis of secondary literature, a historical
overview of the budget negotiations and a case study of the last budget negotiations on the
2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework package, I identify how Brexit has affected
decision-making coalitions and coalition patterns at EU level. After Brexit, Germany, France
and the Netherlands are the most exposed countries, while Hungary and Poland have also
attracted a lot of attention in recent negotiations. In addition, after Brexit, the constant coalition
pattern, established since the second budget negotiations, has changed, with two major
coalitions of net contributors and net recipients split into several smaller coalitions, each not as
strong as previously, when acting in a joint formation. The impact of the outbreak of the covid-19 epidemic on the changes given should not be overlooked.
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