UK & EU: Parting woes

The formal divorce proceedings have finally begun, with Britain delivering a letter to the EU triggering Article 50, yet it’s just the beginning of a two-year period when the terms of the UK’s exit, in trade and movement of people, will be finalised. The breakup has consequences for both UK and EU, as the union seemed to work well enough till the island nation’s isolationist tendencies kicked in with the referendum last June, where “Brexit” was a narrow winner over “Remain” despite the ruling Tories being in favour of staying.

Prime Minister Theresa May stressed in her letter Britain’s commitment to Europe as a close friend and ally, but where the links to the future seem most tenuous is her implied threat to withdraw security cooperation if the EU’s 27 members fail to deliver a trade agreement. Both Europe, struck many times last year in lone wolf attacks by suspect ISIS adherents, and Britain, that faced a recent strike on its Parliament at Westminster, have reason to join forces in combating terrorism. The best result yet in this emotional Brexit will be a negotiated departure where cooperation continues. Beyond jingoism, one reason why Britain possibly left could be the scaling up of European ambitions from a simple common market to Brussels’ Eurocrats trying to grab more power. It’s not too fanciful to suggest that redistribution of wealth and social tampering could have been aims, with Eurocrats reportedly seeking an old and historic continental dominance, and possibly getting too authoritarian in the process. It will be too simplistic to say, however, that UK wins and Europe loses in Brexit.