This article speculates about the possible effects of the Brexit process on the status andfunctions of English in the European Union (EU). One issue here is whether Brexit will result in theweakening of the status of English within the Union, or whether this process will, ironically, strengthen thepower of English as the principal working language of the EU, as well as the primary L2 among Europeans.One possibility here is that the exit of Britain from the Union will clear the sociolinguistic space for theemergence of an authentic European English, used by members of the EU as a ‘second language’ or (even)a quasi-Outer Circle English, serving the needs of the European Union as the common link language foradministration and cooperation between member states.