Saturday, September 22, 2018

UK plans for Brexit stopped at Salzburg Summit

Image result for salzburg summit





Summary:
The EU has come down to a answer to Theresa May's Chequers plan, a stern no. This intensifies the conflict within the UK over whether or not a hard border with Ireland is on the cards. The current leadership, mainly Conservative and Labour parties, have made it abundantly clear that Ireland will not acquire Northern Ireland while Brexit continues. Although the Chequers plan mainly highlights the continuation of the EU trade policy while allowing the UK to determine their own trade policy with the rest of the world, it also removes the EU’s immigration policy; removing the free flow of people from the rest of the EU. Ireland still remains a prominent pivot point in this debate. Both sides want to avoid having a hard border, which would cause many disputes regarding infrastructure and guard posts. Mrs. May has described how the Chequers plan is the only one that can both avoid conflict over trade with the EU and avoid the hard border with Ireland.

My opinion:
I have been following brexit since it was enacted in 2016. Unfortunately, exiting the EU is no small task. As it requires a majority of 65 percent of European countries to accept the withdrawl from the EU, it is a long and arduous process that can end in a few very undesired outcomes. This ultimately is due to how there is a deadline for the UK to protect themselves from leaving with “No Deal.” This would be terrible as it would end with the UK having no past treaties and economic deals with the EU, which would hurt both economies. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has been the most vocal about his distaste for this proposal, describing the English as “liars” for attempting to leave the EU before it could be completed. Unfortunately for Macron, Britain left for mainly economic reasons. This is due to how the UK lost £8.5 billion annually being part of the EU. If the French could for once accept the British, both countries could get along swimmingly. Regarding the EU, it is a financial powerhouse when it comes to GDP so the UK should hop on and get a deal as it would help both the EU and UK.

Sources:



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I believe that the UK should have the power to make their own decisions without the nagging of the EU. However, I fully understand why such an organization would want to keep the UK, and vice versa. First, the UK brings millions of tourists throughout the continent of Europe and the open border policy within most EU nations has propped up many European economies. Secondly, the trade policies of the EU have tremendously helped the UK in its stagnating economy as well as providing support for other EU members. Finally, the EU acts as a block for their own interests to protect against rising powers in the region such as Russia to act as a deterrent. With all this said, the UK is still a sovereign nation at the end of the story and problems such as the availability of jobs and its immigration system has influenced its decision in the Brexit deal.