Shivi Kanjolia
“Each and every word in a sentence is extremely powerful”
Meaning
The term Brexit, coined by former lawyer Peter Wilding, is a blend of two words – “Britain” and “exit”. He wrote about “Brexit” in May 2012. As the name suggests, the United Kingdom’s divorce with the European Union is known as Brexit.
What is the European Union?
The European Union (EU) is a group of 28 countries that trade and allow their citizens to move freely between nations to work and live. Initially, it was built on the ruins of World War II to end centuries of bloodshed and to integrate economic power.
Even though Brexit happened on 31 January 2020, both sides still need to work out the rules for their new relationship. This includes everything from trade, immigration, aviation, security and access to fishing waters.
Current Update
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Said that a Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) between the country and the European Union needs to be reached by October 15. “If we can’t agree by then, then I don’t see that there will be an FTA between us,” he added.
Johnson Further said that a no-deal exit would be a “good outcome for the UK”.
These rules have to be negotiated and signed off by the EU and UK Parliaments by the end of the year.
How and why the UK ended up planning a divorce with the EU?
The UK joined the European Economic Community (a regional organization that aimed to bring about economic integration among its member states) in 1973, which then became part of the European Union when it was created in 1993.
However, the UK had always maintained a distance from the EU. It has its own currency – the pound sterling and refrained from joining the Schengen agreement, which removes internal border controls within the EU. The political fraternity in Britain always included people who were opposed to the idea of EU, and this opposition intensified after the 2008 financial crisis. Immigration of migrants from poorer EU states and the fear of refugees from Syria, Africa and the Middle East further intensified scepticism among voters and the politicians.
In 2012, the then-Prime Minister David Cameron promised to hold a referendum on whether the UK should remain in the EU or leave it. He kept his promise and the UK held the referendum on June 23, 2016. Soon after the result was announced, Cameron resigned.
Why hasn’t Brexit happened yet?
Brexit was originally due to happen on March 29, 2019, two years after then Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 – the formal process to leave. But she had to push the deadline twice after MPs rejected her Brexit deal.
The deadlines continued to be extended even after Boris Johnson became the prime minister. The deadline was then shifted to January 2020.
Thus they have failed to win the approval of lawmakers for their Brexit deals, leading to extensions in deadlines.
This is basically due to differences among the MPs. Some lawmakers favor a “hard” Brexit where the UK withdraws from the EU customs union and single market that allows member states to act as a trading bloc, to pursue its own trade deals with other countries.
“Soft” Brexiteers want to maintain some trade ties with the EU.
Some lawmakers are staunch ‘remainders’ and some believe the country should hold a second referendum.
But didn’t the UK already leave the EU with a deal?
Yes, the UK did leave the EU on 31 January 2020 with a deal called the withdrawal agreement. However, this deal only set out the process of how the UK would leave the EU, not the future relationship.
The transition is an 11-month phase which started immediately after Brexit day. It was designed to give both sides breathing space to negotiate their future relationship.
Other aspects of the future relationship – such as immigration rules, fishing access and security cooperation – also need to be signed off. If not, then no-deal plans will be required in these areas for 1 January 2021 onwards.
The election, which happened on 12 December 2019, resulted in a Conservative majority of 80.
With a sizeable majority in Parliament, it proved straightforward to pass the Brexit legislation, allowing the UK to leave the EU nearly four years after the referendum first took place
Interestingly, in the last 3 years, British has been caught up with Brexit, the whole country has no idea how to get out of the Brexit. Some fear that Brexit may break up with UK , some fear Brexit may destabilize the economy, Brexit riots.
Continued Discussion
With talks deadlocked, an agreement would only be possible if EU negotiators are prepared to “rethink their current positions”
Thus, without a deal, British freight firms have warned there could be logjams at ports and supplies of key goods in Britain could be “severely disrupted” starting January 1.
“There is no room for action, but the whole package, including the fishing package, needs to be taken up in order to avoid a ‘no deal.’
