On Wednesday 30th March 2017, the UK formally submitted a letter, notifying the European Union of it's decision to formally withdraw from the 28 state trading power.
What has really and I mean really got under my skin, is the language and method we are using to conduct our "negotiations" with the EU. Patriotic nationalists are buoyed by the vitriolic bile spewed from prominent leave voters like Farage and Johnson, eschewing memories of a time long ago when Britain was actually a world power. (I'm sure we were very nice to the world then too......)
But anyone who has ever been part of a successful mediation will understand that compromise and knowing your strengths and limits are of the utmost importance. Goading or infuriating the EU is not going to do the UK any favours in the long term. We are one small country, against an alliance of 27 others that are our closest trading partners.
Moreover it is not like the EU is made up of countries who have no weight on the international scene. Germany have the strongest economy in Europe and the 4th strongest in the world. France are slightly behind the UK in 6th but are also a permanent member of the UN security council. Italy, Spain, Belgium, Portugal and Austria are also big economies with important pasts and will not suffer the UK's rhetoric lightly.
In essence, I want the EU to prove the UK is not a major player on the world stage anymore. I want it to throw those old ideals away and prove that integration is the best thing for all of us, under shared regulations and laws, agreed upon democratically inside the EU.
Laws and actions the EU introduced that were successful in the UK/EU
The British government has voted against EU laws 2% of the time since 1999. Official EU voting records show that the British government has voted "No" to laws passed at EU level on 56 occasions, abstained 70 times, and voted "Yes" 2,466 times since 1999. In other words, UK ministers were on the winning side 95% of the time, abstained 3% of the time, and were on the losing side 2%. (BUT WHY DON'T WE WIN ALL THE TIME??? WE'RE GREAT BRITAIN!).
The UK is represented in the EU both by ministers in the Council and British Members of the directly elected European Parliament (MEPs). It is relatively common for a UK government minister to vote ‘no’ to a measure that many British MEPs support. (So the democratically elected element of the EU can be overruled by our own Ministers. Simply mind boggling when anyone complains about the EU being undemocratic)
In fact, on several occasions a minister has voted ‘No’ to a measure supported by a majority of British MEPs, including those from the minister’s own party. And on some occasions the UK government might oppose an EU law which is supported by the administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast. (Maybe the SNP have a point about not being cared about)
In fact, on several occasions a minister has voted ‘No’ to a measure supported by a majority of British MEPs, including those from the minister’s own party. And on some occasions the UK government might oppose an EU law which is supported by the administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast. (Maybe the SNP have a point about not being cared about)
Here are some of the EU's achievements :
- From 15 June 2017, the EU will abolish roaming bills for mobile phones. (Ah roaming charges were fun, I'm going to love paying ridiculously high phone bills in an interconnected world).
- The EU's 1976 Bathing Water Directive and successful legal action by the European Commission has made our beaches as clean, clear and swimmable as they are today. (I prefer not swimming with needles and floating turds)
- The popular Birds and Habitats directives protect almost a fifth of Europe’s landmass, about 200 wetlands, meadows and marine habitats, and more than a thousand animal and plant species. (Other animals exist beyond us, plus, habitats are beautiful, apart from Sunderland, don't go there)
- In 2013 a majority of EU member states voted to restrict the use of 3 pesticides - known as neonicotinoids. The vote followed a report by EU scientists which revealed a high risk of harm to honey bees when neonicotinoids are used on crops attractive to them. (If you remember how important bees are from my previous post, then you'll see how important this measure is)
- In 2009 the EU brought in the Renewable Energy Directive. It had one ambitious aim: to ensure that the EU achieved 20% of its energy from renewables by 2020. (The EU are at the forefront of climate change combatance, and it's imperative, as seen in my previous article, to force this on as many states as possible, for the greater good of the planet.)
- The Water Framework Directive and Marine Strategy Framework Directive commit EU members to restore and protect the environment. (What a horrible idea right?.....)
- The Waste Framework Directive has strict targets for recycling. The Landfill Directive has ensured that we send less waste to landfill. Directives on things like end-of-life vehicles, electronic goods, batteries and packaging have radically enhanced recycling rates. (Re-using and recycling as much as possible frees up land and will reduce pollution. A terrible price to pay for leavers. Who would want that?)
- The National Emission Ceilings Directive (NECD), sets emission limits for each Member State, and the European Union as a whole. Ceilings are specified for four important air pollutants: nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and ammonia (NH3). (I appreciate the effort the EU go to to stop us choking to death)
- In 2012, the EU won the Nobel Prize for peace. (Hasn't been that useless then has it Nigel?)
Quotes about the EU
Here are some things said that I wish to challenge and analyse- "It's a European Union of economic failure, of mass unemployment and of low growth." (Nigel Farage).
In terms of growth, the EU has had a steady figure of growth of around 2% each year since 1996. This is not a high value, but considering it takes into account every member of the EU and some countries will have had far worse economical performance, and may be weaker stronger in different service or production sectors. Furthermore, the economy of the area has recovered since the 2009 banking crisis. The whole world suffered during that time, so it is ridiculous to say the euro alone did not work.
In terms of the economy, there has been debate that the question is not about how much fees we gave to Brussels and what we get back in return, but how EU membership has changed the shape of the British economy. The EU increased competitiveness and openness to other markets through the impact on thousands of companies that had to innovate to survive. Professor Nick Bloom said :
“Competition forced these guys to improve or exit,”.The single European market increased competition and forced British firms to increase the level of innovation.”
The EU annual average unemployment rate was 9.4% in 2015, and 10.9% in the euro area. For the EU Member States, the levels ranged from 4.6 % in Germany to 24.9% in Greece. For the non-member states covered by this data set there were even larger differences, from 4.0% in Iceland to 26.1% in Macedonia. The extremes of Greece and Macedonia will distort the fact that most economies have a relatively normal rate of unemployment and have recovered well from the recession of 2009.
The whole idea of Article 21 (The Free Movement of Persons) was to enable people to fill jobs that could not be taken up by the countries own nationals. It also allowed highly skilled workers to find work in other countries when their own nations did not offer great prospects of advancement or fulfilment. It is an economically sound strategy to gain employment.
Moreover, anyone complaining about an immigrant stealing your job, I refer thee to this quote from comedian Doug Stanhope. : "Of course foreigners steal your job, but maybe, if someone without contacts, money, or speaking the language steals your job, you're shit."
- Don't belittle the hurt that has been caused by the job-destroying machine that is the European Union. (Michael Gove).
- "Isn't it funny — you know, when I came here 17 years ago and I said that I wanted to lead a campaign to get Britain to leave the European Union, you all laughed at me. Well I have to say, you're not laughing now." (Nigel Farage)
When Nigel Farage stormed into the European Parliament with his British flag and gleaming smile in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, I just knew he was going to say something with his trademark arrogance. This speech he gave was embarrassing and a terrible reflection on our country. He criticised all aspects of the EU and made sure everyone knew he had "won". It was a disgusting example of "We're Britain and we're amazing" and a demonstration of "Little Englander Syndrome".
- "Any normal and fair-minded person would have a perfect right to be concerned if a group of Romanian people suddenly moved in next door." (Nigel Farage)
If I were to take a wild guess, I would probably say that this did not go down well with Romania. How this wasn't hate speech I have no idea. Singling out a sole nationality as a threat to UK citizens, simply by moving to the country is an abysmal act of racism and prejudice.
- "The truth is that for as long as we remain a member of the EU we are completely unable to control the numbers of people coming to this country - and with another five countries in the pipeline to join the EU the problem is set to get even worse. If we Vote Leave we can take back control of our borders." (Priti Patel)
How short the memories are of those who's families once fled their country as refugees. The MP Priti Patel who is also Employment Minister, is a far right winger in the Tory party. She has accused the EU of flooding the country with immigrants and was a prominent Leave voter in the referendum. However, looking back into her family's history, her parents left Uganda during the reign of Idi Amin and set up a successful chain of newsagents across the south east of England. Apparently though, opportunities for all immigrants don't seem to be equally justifiable according to this awful woman.
- “Thirty-five years ago this week, another woman prime minister sent a taskforce halfway across the world to defend the freedom of another small group of British people against another Spanish-speaking country, and I’m absolutely certain that our current prime minister will show the same resolve in standing by the people of Gibraltar” (Somehow Lord Michael Howard).
4 days is all it took for a nationalistic, far right dinosaur to threaten military action against a member of the EU. 4 .....bloody......days. Comparing Argentina in the 1980's and Spain in 2017 is a ridiculous juxtaposition. Argentina were run by a nationalistic military and Spain are a democratic member of NATO. This is why I want the EU to tell us to get a life. We are lead by morons from a different age, who think debates are still settled with guns and empires.
And just a little extra information about Howard. His father was a Romanian immigrant who left in 1939. I just don't understand all of these hypocritical people, that forget that even their closest family escaped from persecution once.
Companies already changing plans and strategies in the UK
- Lloyd’s has confirmed that it will open a new office in Brussels in response to Brexit. Faced with the loss of passporting rights from its London home, the insurance market has decided to put its new operation close to the heart of EU decision making.
- 40% of gaming firms based in the UK are considering leaving.
- Ryanair warns of a “distinct possibility of no flights between Europe and the UK for a period from March 2019 in the absence of a bilateral deal.”
- Bertelsmann, Europe’s biggest media company by revenues, may move some of its business from London in the event of a hard Brexit, amid concerns a British withdrawal from the single market could leave the company with a massive tax bill.
- Brait, the South African investment group, has cancelled plans for a London listing of its shares, blaming uncertainty over the UK’s exit from the European Union.
- The decline in recruitment company SThree’s British business accelerated at the start of the year, with Brexit uncertainty and public sector cuts weighing on its first-quarter profits.
- Julius Baer has paused plans for a European hub there because it believes Brexit will dent the UK’s economic growth.
- Deutsche Telekom has taken a €2.2bn charge on its investment in BT, pushing the German group to a fourth-quarter loss in 2016. Europe’s largest telecoms company blamed the Brexit vote, a decline in the value of sterling and the collapse in BT’s share price for the write-off.
- Capita, the British outsourcer, ousted its chief executive Andy Parker as it blamed a 33 per cent drop in pre-tax profits on a slowdown in contract wins since Britain’s decision to leave the EU.
- ITV has blamed economic and political uncertainty for the first annual fall in advertising revenue since 2009 when the UK economy was hit by the global banking crisis.
- BMW is considering making an electric version of the Mini outside the UK because of the uncertainty posed by Britain’s decision to leave the EU.
- Pre-tax losses at Aston Martin rose 24 per cent to £162.8m last year as the falling pound following the vote to leave the EU took its toll.
- GM the US car maker predicted $300m in Brexit-related losses in its Europe business in 2017 after a similar amount in 2016.
- Premier Foods served up a profit warning and announced a cost cutting programme on Thursday as the food group battles sluggish sales and increased commodity prices as a result of sterling’s sharp fall since last June.
- Royal Mail, the privatised postal service said a drop in spending on junk mail triggered by uncertainty around the time of the Brexit vote contributed to lower half-year profits.
- EasyJet, the low-cost airline said revenue dipped partly as a result of higher holiday costs for UK travellers following the EU referendum.
Professional Services
The UK is not a huge manufacturer but it's service sector is enormous and accounts for most of the success of the economy. Given that the UK's professional services are so important to the country, they should take into account that the services sector is by far the most important sector in the European Union, making up 74.7% of GDP. Leaving a market that respects our ability in this area and where we are world renowned does not seem like a master plan. I've read of possible jobs being lost to Frankfurt in Germany, which also has a strong professional services sector and more European Union involved nations may change to a place that has similar laws and regulations.Conclusion
Overall I believe that the UK government, media and certain citizens have abused the EU for problems that were not caused by them. I am a hardcore remain voter, and have no doubt that integration is the future and that leaving was a step back in time to an age of imperialist dreams. We are not a major power anymore, and the EU have the perfect opportunity to prove that in their negotiations.
I'm sick of no one actually giving examples of the EU's success and constantly berating it for everything that goes wrong. No remain campaigner pointed to EU regulations that actually made improvements to the country and there are plenty as listed above. The abuse that our leaders and leave campaigners have given the EU deserves a solid retaliation, so they can show those dinosaurs what we will lose.
I'm sick of no one actually giving examples of the EU's success and constantly berating it for everything that goes wrong. No remain campaigner pointed to EU regulations that actually made improvements to the country and there are plenty as listed above. The abuse that our leaders and leave campaigners have given the EU deserves a solid retaliation, so they can show those dinosaurs what we will lose.
References
https://fullfact.org/europe/uk-jobs-and-eu/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39443169
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/nigel-farage-resigns-most-infamous-quotes-outgoing-ukip-leader-1568802
https://ig.ft.com/sites/brexit-companies/
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1321
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/european-union/gdp-annual-growth-rate
https://www.ft.com/content/202a60c0-cfd8-11e5-831d-09f7778e7377
https://www.foe.co.uk/blog/what-has-eu-done-uk-nature
https://www.foe.co.uk/blog/what-has-eu-done-uk-bees
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/07/eu-nature-directives-birds-habitats-directives
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