BREXIT

BREXIT [Student Name] [Institution] BREXIT Brexit is a popular acronym used to define an exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The European Union is a political and economic partnership of 28 European countries formed after World War 2 with the aim of encouraging economic cooperation while preventing more conflict. Brexit is therefore a merge of the words Britain and exit forming Brexit. This can be likened to a much earlier anticipated withdrawal of Greece from the union which was then dubbed ‘Grexit’. Various individuals, political parties and advocacy groups have in the past campaigned for the Britain’s withdrawal since the union’s formation. One such instance was in 1975, only two years after the formation of the union, then European Economic Community (EEC). Those efforts were futile as a referendum held that year favored the continued membership in the union with 67% of the then population voting to remain (Butler, 2016). However, this was not the case in the most recent Brexit attempt in 2016 which was successful with 52% voting to leave. The referendum is only the beginning of a process expected to last a couple of years. This paper will look at the possible impacts Brexit will have, positive and negative, both on the country itself and the whole world. Particularly, it will look at the impact on various fields such as on immigration, crime, trade, law, job market, finance, sovereignty and finally on defense. It will further look at the possible way forwards for the UK in order to bring back balance to itself and the global economy in general. Immigration and its impact has not only been an issue in the UK but throughout the whole Europe continent in general. This is due to increasing levels of refugees especially from war torn countries in the Middle East and Africa where terrorism has been on the rise. The European Union has in its policies allowed its citizens freedom of movement hence an automatic right to move and settle in the UK. Therefore, an obvious benefit of Brexit for the UK is that the country will finally be able to control its rate of immigration since then, it will be possible to personally monitor who is allowed in the country. On the other hand, leaving the EU would change where border controls are done for the UK from Calais in France to Dover in Britain (Smith, 2016). Thus, it would be tougher to control the masses that daily enter the country from the whole continent. Another field where Brexit will have a major impact is on Law. Many of the laws in Britain and other countries in Europe are made overseas by dictates in the European parliament and through rulings which are made and upheld in the European Court of Justice. Therefore, Britain leaving the EU means that the country would finally be able to make all its laws again. The UK courts, now separate from the EU, would become sovereign again. This in turn would have an impact on crime. The European Union provides a warrant, the European Arrest Warrant, which allows a citizen from any member country who needs to stand trial in another country, be sent abroad and charged in the foreign court. This had a disadvantage in that British citizens who committed even minor offences were tried and sentenced in foreign courts, which sometimes may be bias. Therefore, the UK exiting the European Union will immediately stop this. However, this also poses a disadvantage in that those citizens that actually commit major offences such as rape and murder cannot be sent back and tried. This directly interferes with the successful dispensation of justice. The third field where Brexit will have a major and controversial effect is on trade. The European Union was formed mainly for the purposes of financial cooperation amongst member countries. As a result, most countries from Europe rarely trade with other countries not within it. Therefore, a major benefit for Britain after Brexit is that it would be able to freely participate in international markets. Emerging strong economies such as China and India provide a great opportunity for Britain to foster partnership with them hence boosting its economic position. However, it cannot be ignored that most of Britain’s exports, a staggering 44 percent, go to fellow EU countries. Hence, the barriers that would be put in place after Brexit with the EU would only be counterproductive. Finally is Brexit’s effect on defense as Britain is a major contributor in the EU , having one of the best and most decorated defense forces in the world. Before the exit of Britain from the European Union, there had been talks to negotiate the contribution of Britain’s army to the larger EU army. Furthermore, there had been reports which suggested that Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, would demand Britain’s approval to contribute in the EU army in return for concessions her country would offer. This was intolerable by many rights as it would erode Britain’s independent military force. Therefore, a major win for Brexit is the thwarting of this endeavor. However on the flip side, Europe is recently facing a couple of threats, from the terrorist group ISIL as well as from insurgent Russia. Therefore, the situation calls for unity in the European Union to combat these challenges. Brexit will greatly undermine these efforts as it would seem that Britain has turned its back on EU, particularly at a ‘rough’ time. Britain voted very strongly to leave the European Union with 71.8% of the population (about 30 million) turning out to vote. England particularly voted very highly to leave with 53.4% and so did Wales with 52.5% also voting to leave. Scotland and Northern Ireland however backed staying with 62% and 55.8% of their populations respectively (Wheeler, 2016). This clearly shows that there was plenty of support from both sides of the coin, many of British citizens also seeing the positive and negative effects Brexit could have as well. Despite the differences in the country, there are still many way forwards that could be taken to control the effects of Brexit and ensure that Britain still maintains its strong position in the continent Europe and the world as a whole. First, it should be noted that being a member of the EU and any other such union does not necessarily guarantee an economy’s prosperity. An example is Greece which despite being a member of the European Union is fundamentally uncompetitive. South Korea on the other hand is no member of any such ’club’ yet is one of the most successful nations in the world, exporting electronics and cars globally including into the EU. Therefore, with the right attitude and mentality, Britain may also as well be successful without the help of a trade organization. Second, Britain is and always has been one of the most stable and venerable democracies in the world. This is in comparison not the case in many countries in Europe who do not enjoy equally uninterrupted periods of political stability. The monarchy, particularly the present one, is a clear symbol of this and poses a great challenge to the EU’s political framework on its own. Should Britain capitalize on this advantage, it would encourage investors to continue doing business in the country as well as encourage more to come. Finally and maybe most importantly is Britain’s currency, the pound. Even though it is facing quite an uphill challenge especially after Brexit, Britain in itself has not yet been defaulted on its debt. The Euro on the other hand has faced and continues to face many a crisis. Furthermore, the euro’s problems are unlikely to end until Europe particularly member states of the EU agree to form a fiscal union. The fiscal union should comprise of a proper European government as well as an efficient and effective European Treasury. Though there have been prior attempts at this, it has never been achieved and there seems to be no sign that it would ever happen. Therefore, the pound under proper supervision by the UK Treasury could well go back up again and assert its dominance once more on the European market. In conclusion, in the attitude of the current Britain’s Prime Minister, Theresa May, who said, “Brexit means Brexit and we’re going to make a success of it”, it is time for Brits and the world generally to move on after the Brexit hangover and work towards achieving the best results with what is on the plate. Both sides, pro-Brexit and anti-Brexit, should work together in order to ensure the future of Britain. References Butler, David (2016). The 1975 Referendum. Eureferendum.com Smith, Ben (2016). Leave or Remain in the EU? The Arguments For And Against Brexit. The Telegraph. Wheeler, Brian (2016). Brexit: All You Need To Know About The UK Leaving The EU. BBC News. BREXIT 7 Running head: BREXIT 1