Brexit… EU better get EUsed to it (Part 1)
Let’s talk about Brexit, I can imagine your first thought is ‘let’s not’, however, understanding the ins and outs of what has happened so far could give you the edge in the markets and potentially help make a success of the outcome after this long and tedious Brexit process.
Let’s start like any good story; from the beginning. The first question you might ask is ‘When did Britain join the EU?’, well that’s a very interesting question as Britain did not formally ever join the EU in its current state. In 1973, Britain joined the European Economic Community (EEC), which function was to serve as an economic union between multiple countries, bringing about a common market and a customs union in Europe. This was Britain’s third attempt to join the EEC, the previous two requests were vetoed by French President Charles De Gaul. One of the reasons for this veto was due to Britain’s historical close ties with the United States, De Gaul fearing Britain would effectively act as an agent in the European common market on behalf of the US, allowing the US to have too much influence in European economic affairs.
(Source: The Guardian)
The Treaty of Accension was signed by United Kingdom in January 1972 and came into effect in January 1973 formally Britain had now joined the EEC. This same treaty was signed by various other nations with a notable addition being Ireland. EEC membership was popularly supported by the British public displayed by a referendum in 1975 on membership to the EEC producing a remain majority result: 63% vs 33%. Moving forward a few decades to 1992, the Maastricht treaty was signed which bought about further integration between EEC members and led to the formation of the European community (EC), this transitioned Britain’s membership from a purely economic union to a political union. Furthermore, in 2009 a further transition occurred within the EC through the Treaty of Lisbon allowing the formation of the European Union (EU) as we know it today .
After the formation of the EU, tension between Britain and the now EU started to become more prominent within British politics and everyday society with a specific focus on aspects of the Lisbon Treaty that many were unhappy with, including some MPs. Growing discontentment towards the EU from the public had been brewing for many years indicated by the rise of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in 1993. In 2014 UKIPs support seemed to rapidly grow with the party winning the 2014 European elections winning approximately 27.5% of the national vote. This success was further reiterated in the 2015 general election with UKIP receiving 12.6% of all votes.
In the 2015 general election the EU was one of the main focuses with many political parties supporting a referendum on Britain’s EU membership. The outcome of the election was a Conservative majority winning 331 seats whilst securing 36.9% of votes. One of the key policies in the Conservative party manifesto was the guarantee of a referendum on Britain’s membership to the EU once David Cameron had attempted to renegotiate parts of the Lisbon treaty he felt were the issue. These issues specifically focused on immigration and the ability to opt out of further treaties which would bring Britain and the EU into a closer union. In February 2016, Cameron announced renegotiation’s had concluded and formally announced a date for an EU referendum allowing the British public to decide on Britain’s membership to the EU on the 23rd of June 2016…
Source: Daily Express
Thank you for reading, return for Part II which will continue from where we left off
Sources: BBC.co.uk, The Guardian, Daily Express
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