Analysis of Virtual Water Trade Flow and Driving Factors in the European Union
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This is an eminently publishable paper nevertheless as it stands suffers from a serious presentation problem.
it feels like the core of the paper - the analysis of virtual water flows which is developed and presented in a very convincing manner - has been surrounded by the issue of Brexit in a complete unconvincing and arbitrary manner.
I have read and ré-read the paper and I still cannot connect the rather vague and non technical discussion of Brexit and the core results of the paper. I cannot about the feeling that the authors tried to pack a nicely done technical work with a potential flashy policy issue. The problem is that the link between the two is not properly motivated or implemented and no practical conclusions really come from it.
The title of the paper itself reflects this enormous mismatch. There is nothing in the analysis that can be legitimately related to the title.
Author Response
Dear Prof.
Thank you for the valuable guidance and correction on the article " Is Brexit rational or capricious? A perspective based on the virtual water trade in the European Union ". Your suggestions further improve the research content and enhance the research value of the article. The author has made a detailed revision following the opinions of the reviewers. Please correct me if there are any mistakes. The answers to the experts' questions are in "Report Notes", and the revised paper is in the attachment.
Best regards!
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
a nice and quite smart approach of a very intruigging topic
it needs though a slight improvement (more like a fine-tunning)
e.g. avoid using first plural throughout the entire manuscript
cf trading chain backing references are missing (throughout the entire supply chain)
conclusions' section is too weak (its title should ne "CONCLUSIONS" and not "CONCLUSION")
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Dear Prof.
Thank you for the valuable guidance and correction on the article " Is Brexit rational or capricious? A perspective based on the virtual water trade in the European Union ". Your suggestions further improve the research content and enhance the research value of the article. The author has made a detailed revision following the opinions of the reviewers. Please correct me if there are any mistakes. The answers to the experts' questions are in "Report Notes", and the revised paper is in the attachment.
Best regards!
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
