The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 European countries. Each country pays to be a part of the union and in return they gain access to certain ways of working together. This includes being part of a “single market”, which means that goods can move between member countries without any checks or extra charges. It also allows free movement of people, meaning citizens of EU countries may live and work freely in whichever EU country they choose.
All Member States remain sovereign and independent states, but they pool some of their ‘sovereignty’ in areas where it could be beneficial to work together. In practice, this means that the Member States delegate some of their decision-making powers to the shared institutions they have created so that decisions on specific matters of common interest can be made democratically at EU level.
The EU was created after the Second World War. It was thought that if countries traded with one another and became economically interdependent, they would be less likely to conflict.
The EU countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum –commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum –took place on 23 June 2016. It asked the UK population whether the country should remain a member of, or leave, the European Union (EU).
More than 30 million people voted, with the Leave campaign winning by 51.9 per cent to 48.1 per cent.
David Cameron, the former leader of the Conservative party promised a referendum should his party win the general election in 2015. This promise arose during a period when the Conservative party were under pressure from Eurosceptics and were losing votes to the right-wing populist political party UKIP.
When the Conservative party won the general election in 2015, they activated a manifesto pledge to hold an in-out referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU.
Essentially, the referendum revolved around two central issues: the cost of being a member of the EU, and the power and control the EU holds over the UK. While the UK is a sovereign state, (meaning it makes its own laws and rules), the UK shares some of their ‘sovereignty’ with the EU in areas where it could be beneficial to work together.
The Leave campaign advised that this sharing had gone too far, and it was no longer an ideal or beneficial relationship. The Remain campaign, on the other hand, believed it to be beneficial to continue to be a part of the EU.
Vote Leave was the official campaigning organisation that supported a Leave vote in the 2016 referendum. Other non-official campaigns included Leave.EU and Grassroots Out.
Economy
Britain will regain £350 million a week (to spend on NHS and science research)
EU regulations are highly damaging to our economy, costing small businesses millions every week.
The UK has no power to make free trade deals with fast-growing economies like India and China – unlike no-EU Iceland and Switzerland.
Immigration
A quarter of a million EU immigrants come to the UK every year, which puts a big strain on public services like the NHS and schools.
The EU’s migrant crisis is out of control.
Sovereignty
Lack of control over vital policies. (Over half of the UK laws are made by unelected EU bureaucrats in Brussels who the UK never voted for).
The European Court will be in charge of the UK’s borders, immigration, asylum and intelligence services.
The EU court means the UK cannot stop violent convicted criminals from coming from Europe to the UK.
Britain Stronger in Europe was the official campaigning organisation that supported the Remain vote.
Economy
The EU is the UK’s largest trading partner. Remaining retains access to the Single Market.
Being inside the EU also makes it more attractive for companies to invest in the UK, meaning more jobs.
Brexit would cause an economic shock and growth would be slower. (Chancellor George Osborne argued that a Leave vote would cause an “immediate and profound” economic shock, with UK economic growth falling 3.6%.)
Immigration
The UK is not part of the EU’s border-free zone – The UK controls its borders (The UK has the right to check everyone, including EU nationals, arriving from continental Europe.
Immigrants, especially those from the EU, pay more in taxes than they take out.
The Government has negotiated a deal which means that in the future, new EU migrants will not have full access to certain benefits until they have worked in the UK for up to four years.
Sovereignty
Only a minority of UK laws derive from the EU.
Britain retains a veto in many important areas.
Cameron’s EU deal allows national parliaments to block legislation.
Some sharing of sovereignty is crucial to enable fair trade across Europe.
British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens aged 18 or over who are resident in the UK or Gibraltar were eligible to vote. UK citizens resident overseas were also eligible to vote, provided they were registered to vote at a UK address in the last 15 years.
Residents of the Crown Dependencies (which are not part of the United Kingdom), namely the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, even if they were British citizens, were excluded from the referendum unless they were also previous residents of the United Kingdom (that is: England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).
The Brexit transition is the period agreed in the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement which gives time for both the UK and EU to agree their future relationship. The UK has no say in the making of new EU laws during the transition but will have to follow all EU rules, including freedom of movement.
The transition is due to last until 31 December 2020.
(The terms of the Withdrawal Agreement allowed the UK–EU Joint Committee to extend the transition period by up to two years if it signed off on the length of any extension before 1 July 2020. However, no extension of the transition period was made. EU lawyers say that now this window has been missed, EU law makes it very difficult to agree to any extension).
At the end of the transition period, the UK’s relationship with the EU will be determined by the new agreements they have negotiated.
The EU and the UK have begun negotiating their future relationship. Like any negotiation, there will be agreements and disagreements over the structure of the UK and the EU’s new relationship. Also making the situation more challenging is the fact that this is the first time the EU has negotiated an international agreement with a state after it has withdrawn from the EU through Article 50.
The condensed timetable for the negotiations, which must be concluded before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, means that both the UK and the EU are under political pressure to find legal compromises quickly.
