by InTrieste
Ten years after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, Brexit remains less a concluded chapter than an ongoing national reckoning. The dramatic economic collapse predicted by some never materialized, but neither did many of the promises made by its strongest supporters. Instead, Britain has emerged with slower economic growth, new trade frictions, and a public increasingly questioning whether leaving the bloc was the right decision.
In Friuli Venezia Giulia, home to a growing British expatriate community, opinions remain as divided as they were on referendum day.
Over the past weeks, our reporters spoke with several British residents living across the region. Their reflections revealed a striking generational contrast. Younger expatriates overwhelmingly expressed hope that the United Kingdom would one day rebuild closer ties with Europe—or even rejoin the European Union. Older Britons, while often acknowledging Brexit’s shortcomings, were generally more resigned, saying they believed the decision was permanent and that Britain should move forward rather than revisit it.
The economic verdict
Economists broadly agree that Brexit has imposed long-term costs on the British economy, even if the country avoided the immediate financial shock many feared in 2016.
Trade with the European Union has become more complicated as businesses navigate customs declarations, regulatory checks, and additional paperwork that did not exist during Britain’s membership. Investment has also lagged behind comparable advanced economies, contributing to weaker productivity and slower overall growth.
Yet the picture is not uniformly bleak. Britain’s globally oriented service industries—including finance, legal services, consulting, and technology—have remained comparatively resilient, expanding business relationships both within Europe and beyond it.
Immigration changed—but did not disappear
One of the referendum’s defining issues was immigration. Brexit ended the free movement of people between the UK and the EU, dramatically reducing the number of European workers arriving in Britain.
But the anticipated overall decline in immigration never occurred.
Instead, labor shortages in sectors such as agriculture, hospitality, and social care led to increased migration from non-European countries, fundamentally changing the composition of Britain’s workforce while leaving overall immigration at historically high levels.
“The promises never came”
For Giuseppe Leraci, professor of Political Science at the University of Trieste, the greatest lesson of Brexit lies in the gap between political expectations and reality.
“What the Brexiteers expected simply never happened,” Leraci said. “The economic advantages that were promised did not arrive, and while immigration from Europe was reduced, migration from the Middle East and other regions did not stop. The real consequence is that many Europeans no longer choose the UK as naturally as they once did.”
His assessment reflects a broader academic consensus that Brexit produced significant institutional change without delivering the transformative benefits many voters had anticipated.
From Brexit to “Bregret”
Perhaps the most remarkable shift has been public opinion itself. Recent surveys suggest that a clear majority of Britons now believe leaving the European Union was a mistake—a phenomenon widely described as “Bregret.”
For many of the British residents interviewed in Friuli Venezia Giulia, that sentiment is deeply personal. Some spoke of lost freedom to live and work across Europe; others emphasized that life in Italy has made them appreciate the ease of crossing borders that once defined European citizenship.
Ten years on, Brexit has not ended Britain’s relationship with Europe. It has simply rewritten it—leaving a generation on both sides of the Channel still debating what was gained, what was lost, and whether the story is truly over.
