On June 23, the decision was made for Britain to exit the European Union, a move best known as “Brexit”. With an uncomfortably close vote of 48.1 percent in favor of remaining versus 51.9 percent opting to leave, there have begun discussions of a redo. But what exactly does exiting the European Union do for Britain? Its prime minister, David Cameron, resigned from his position a short day after the vote was announced, and was quoted saying, “I will do everything I can…to steady the ship over the coming weeks and months. But I do not think it would be right… to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.”
Britain’s two-year-long separation from the EU is predicted to start when Cameron’s successor takes over on September 2nd of this year. Article 50 of the European Union, which specifies the actions a state must take when departing the union, offers the two-year window as time to negotiate a new treaty in place of Britain’s EU membership. This already seems to be a necessity, as Britain has a great deal of political and economic business to sort out, including trade tariffs and policies on immigration.
For example, its exit from the EU means that it must make new trade agreements with the rest of the world, something that was kept in mind while Priti Patel, minister of state for employment, voted for leaving the EU. Patel cites Brexit as a decision that would “set Britain free” in terms of trading, as Patel has said EU regulations stifled business for the UK.
In a very interesting twist, this new opening for trade regulations and deals also means that the UK will have to make negotiations with the EU themselves. Example trade models have been presented as possibilities for Britain to adhere to, including the Norway, Switzerland, South Korea, Turkey, Canada and WTO models. Each has its own rules on tariffs, trade barriers and free movement of both goods and people, making this economic call for Britain an increasingly important one. Despite Brexit demanding attention from the entire world, the vote itself did not serve as formal notification for Britain’s departure from the union.
That would come at a later time. Official or not, leader of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage saw this vote as a sure reason to celebrate, even calling June 23 Britain’s independence day. Independent, maybe. Stable, certainly not. Britain’s currency, the pound, is at its lowest value in comparison to the U.S. dollar since 1985 and foreshadows continuing economic turmoil for the country in the future; a disappointment to those who supported Brexit in hopes of achieving a better British economy that worked for the people. Though much of the world is rocked by Britain’s departure from the union, none are as affected as those states remaining within the the EU, holding their breath, hoping no one else Brexits stage left.
