Brexit

[presence]

London (AFP) - A British exit from the European Union would leave the country in uncharted territory, no country having ever travelled that road, which spells freedom to eurosceptics but doom to the pro-Europe camp.





As Britain gears up for a membership referendum, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker insists there is no plan B, while Downing Street maintains it has made no contingencies.
After securing a deal on Britain's 'special status' in the EU at a summit on Friday, Prime Minister David Cameron said he would campaign for his country to stay in and warned those clamouring for a divorce that a post-EU future might be far from rosy.
"We should be suspicious of those who claim that leaving Europe is some automatic fast track to some land of milk and honey," Cameron said, adding that "Brexit" would be "a leap into the unknown".
A "War Game" held in London last month attempted to simulate post-Brexit negotiations on Britain's place in Europe, but even there discussions quickly turned toxic.
As a first step, Britain and the EU must "negotiate and conclude an agreement... setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal", as required by Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.





If no agreement is reached after two years, Britain would automatically be ejected from the union, unless both parties agreed to an extension.
At the heart of discussions will be whether Britain remains in the European Economic Area (EEA), like other non-EU members Norway and Iceland, or whether it quits the single market altogether.
The City of London, Europe's most important financial centre, is hostile to a Brexit and its big hitters have already planned for various post-EU scenarios.
HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, has warned that 1,000 jobs could shift from London to Paris.






According to a study by the think-tank Open Europe, Britain's GDP would be 2.2 points lower in 2030 if Britain leaves the EU, in its worst-case scenario, with a loss of 0.8 percent deemed most likely.
Despite Brexit's many unknowns, the government would likely clamp down on immigrants, starting with migrants from Eastern Europe, whom eurosceptics believe are being lured by Britain's welfare system.
Parliament would be able to strike down EU laws written into British law, which currently state that the welfare system must treat workers from other parts of Europe as it does British citizens.
France would have to decide whether to continue to host British border police, or whether it would lift the controls to allow migrants currently stranded in Calais to travel on to England through the Eurotunnel.
Meanwhile, EU citizens already resident in Britain could suddenly find themselves treated as any other foreigner, requiring residence and work permits.





Remaining EU members could respond in kind, leaving Britons on the continent in need of visas and permits.
- Imperial victory -

In the key areas of security and defence, it seems likely that all parties would conclude the need to continue cooperating closely on defence and counter-terrorism.
But a Brexit could leave Britain weakened on the world stage as it loses its role as a gateway to Europe for the United States and China.
Both US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have publicly called for Britain to stay in the EU.




Britain could be further weakened by the prospect of losing Scotland, whose devolved government has signalled it would demand another independence referendum in the event of a Brexit.
The ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) claims that it is being forced out of the EU against its wishes, and believes it would have a stronger chance of winning independence than it did in 2014, when Scotland voted by 55 percent to 45 percent to remain in the United Kingdom.
The consequences would be dire for Prime Minster David Cameron, who would go down in history as the man who empowered the country's eurosceptics to drive Britain out of the EU.
Political commentators are already fantasising about charismatic London mayor Boris Johnson, a die-hard eurosceptic, replacing Cameron should the vote go against the current prime minister.
Another issue that carries weight, literally, among Britain's eurosceptics will also be settled.
The 2009 European regulation imposing the use of the "metric" system will finally be able to be binned, signalling a return to "imperial" measurements and victory for "metric martyr" campaigners.

http://news.yahoo.com/uncharted-waters-brexit-115733952.html

 

[timosman]

John Kerry urges UK to stay in 'united' EU

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/13/john-kerry-urges-uk-stay-in-eu

John Kerry has urged the UK to remain in the European Union, saying the continent needed to be united, after it emerged Barack Obama would intervene to encourage a remain vote in Britain’s EU referendum.

The US secretary of state said it was in his country’s interests for Britain to stay in the union at a time when it was facing a number of challenges.

“Europe is going to emerge stronger than ever, provided it stays united and builds common responses to these challenges,” he said at a security conference in Munich on Saturday. “Now obviously, the United States has a profound interest in your success, as we do in a very strong United Kingdom staying in a strong EU.”

President Obama plans to make “a big, public reach-out” to persuade British voters to stay in the EU once the referendum campaign begins.

Bob Corker, the chair of the US Senate foreign relations committee, said Obama was likely to focus on the need for the EU to remain united to combat the refugee crisis and the growing threat of Russian aggression in the Baltics, Ukraine and the Middle East. There are growing fears in Washington that the UK’s referendum is a dangerous gamble that could have disastrous consequences for the entire continent.

David Cameron told an audience of European leaders on Friday that the continent had to “stand together” against threats such as Islamic State and Russian aggression. The prime minister also appealed for Germany’s help in finalising his package of reforms before a summit to discuss them this week, stressing the countries’ shared interests and values.

Cameron said he made no apology for the fact that Britain was “argumentative and rather strong-minded”.

“The need to protect our sovereignty has always been paramount for us. But we are also an open nation,” he said. “That openness drove the decision to join in 1973. We have always been a country that reaches out. And I never want us to pull up the drawbridge and retreat from the world.

“So when it comes to the question of Britain’s future in Europe, my aim is clear: I want to keep Britain inside a reformed European Union.”

The Leave.EU spokesman Jack Montgomery said: “It might be convenient for John Kerry, who has repeatedly declined to support the UK in the Falklands, for us to be in the EU, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for us.”

 

[Pauls' Revere]

Looks as though they reached a deal.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...it-divorce-terms/ar-BBQ4cq4?OCID=ansmsnnews11

BRUSSELS — More than four decades after Britain tied itself to its Continental neighbors, Prime Minister Theresa May obtained the approval of the other 27 European Union members on a formal divorce pact from the bloc, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said on Sunday.

It is a consequential step intended to take the country on a new, if unclear, path.[sic]

Good for them, now why can't states in the US do this?

 

[Pauls' Revere]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/brexit/13558940/brexit-deal-announcement-today-uk-eu-done/

BORIS Johnson gave the nation an early Christmas present this morning as he secured a historic Brexit deal which finally sees the UK take back control from the EU and end four years of bitter wrangling.

The PM is set to address the nation any minute now to reveal the pact, which will allow us to trade freely with the EU without tariffs or quotas and bring to an end four bitter years of Brexit wrangling.

Four years, five months and 29 days after the British people voted to leave the EU, the PM will make an announcement from Downing Street shortly.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted a picture of himself smiling with both thumbs lifted in the air.

"The deal is done," he wrote.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...britain-and-the-e-u/ar-BB1ccZsd?ocid=msedgntp

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The New York Times logoBrexit Trade Deal Reached Between Britain and the E.U.

LONDON — Britain and the European Union struck a hard-fought trade agreement on Thursday, settling a bitter divorce that stretched over more than four years and setting the terms for a post-Brexit future as close neighbors living apart, according to British officials.

 

[Pauls' Revere]

Now we need secession here in the states. Who says it can't be done?