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As an european I think the Brexit is actually beneficial for us in the middle/longterm. - International companies will move from GB to ireland/continent, germa

As an european I think the Brexit is actually beneficial for us in the middle/longterm. - International companies will move from GB to ireland/continent, germany is in a good position to capture the financial industry (Frankfurt), Berlin already is a great startup hub. - the brexit is a strong signal for the other EU states to get their shit together and fix obvious problems. - its in the interest of all EU states to be as hard as possible when negotiating with britain and outright damage them when possible. No politican will say this loud, though, but it will happen. "Out is out". Harsh consequences will make other states think twice before considering an exit, too. thus, stability. - The british economy will collapse completely, they are by far not that important globally. The pound already goes down dramatically, trade partners have been EU states mostly who will get doctrined from brussels to punish GB. We do not need anything that must be imported from the UK. Short-term EU companies operating on GB will suffer, though. But this will be overshadowed through the international focus on continental europe instead of UK/London after a while. - the US already said that the UK isn't very important and are not very eager to make deals separately. And we do no longer have to deal with "special care" for british wishes, which often are the cause of endless discussions and bureaucracy. - Scotland and n.Ireland may "exit" the UK, further minorizing the role of the UK in the world. Might be possible that they join the EU independently. So all in all, this may be good news for the EU, even when we sacrifice a generation of UK citizens for our benefit. Maybe in a few decades a demolished, isolated england will try to get into the EU again. Still, it makes me said, since I really enjoyed my stays in London and would prefer a big, strong, united europe.

prodmerc 10y ago
Yes, I also think this is a chance to strengthen the rest of the EU. It may also be a start of countries leaving, but if the rest of the EU comes together and says "hey, we need to double down on this or else what the hell are we even doing" they may do the former. Which is a good thing imo, but a lot of people don't think so... The UK imports a lot of stuff from the mainland, they'll probably end up in the economic area (with all the strings attached) but with no say in the EU... maybe don't let the masses vote next time heh
Kristine1975 10y ago
>even when we sacrifice a generation of UK citizens for our benefit Such good news/s
throwaway987611 10y ago
I read this post coming from a German, since you promoted Frankfurt and Berlin. As an Englishman, let me tell you somethings from an opposing view. - International companies won't be moving to ireland/continent. The UK at one point wasn't as integrated and was doing quite well. It will do again. The financial industry will not leave London. It's not going to happen. There are many reasons why. Keep dreaming. London is the best startup in Europe currently. - Sure the EU can be hard as possible, but then so can the UK. There are many EU countries which export to the UK. It's not just a one way thing. - The British economy will not collapse. How you can think that I have no idea. Yes the pound did go down, it's gone down many times in history. But it will recover again. The Bank of England, already accounted for this. There is no panic. - The US said the UK is not that important? Says Obama because his dad is from Kenya hates the UK. But in reality it actually is. Germany, Spain, all other countries of EU are not as important as the UK. - Scotland will most likely want to exit. They are 4 million people after all. But when they do exit. All the British companies currently there, will leave to go to London. They'll join as another country like Estonia or worse off. I don't know if Europe will have them lol. - N. Ireland won't exit. They are deeply patriotic people and see themselves as British. Sorry. But I really don't think you know what you are talking about!
- prodmerc 10y ago
  Well, his post was pretty negative towards the UK, yours is a bit too positive... IMO Plenty of companies will move to Ireland/Germany. I think the EU/UK will reach agreements that are more or less the same as they are now (making Leave a bit pointless). The economy will not collapse, but it will be worse off short term. I don't think US cares more about either the EU/UK. Equal for all. If Scotland goes - why would those companies not move to the EU, since it would be about the same difficulty wise?
- anonyfox 10y ago
  Yes, we have deeply opposing views here, obviously. I can clearly see where you're coming from and follow the logic. Having said that, I strongly disagree, see my initial post. Only the future will tell who will be right (or none of us?). Political Power Play is a gamble, and I bet strongly on a more united europe. Others do different bets, as seen in the brexit vote. All sides contain competent and educated people finally.
supercarrot 10y ago
definitely beneficial. GB was occasionally blocking some EU proposals based on no significant evidence they are that bad to be blocked.
koralatov 10y ago
> this may be good news for the EU, even when we > sacrifice a generation of UK citizens for our benefit. As a British citizen, I'm appalled by the sentiment expressed here. It flies in the face of the ideas and values upon which the EU was founded. I'm not going to say anything beyond that.
- anonymousDan 10y ago
  As an Irish citizen I have to say that I certainly don't see it as a hood thing for Europe. It's influence will be sorely missed for what it's worth.
  - tropo 10y ago
    It's very unfortunate that you won't be going with them. You are close to them and have the same language. It just makes sense, but sadly the old disputes over religion (looking silly now) have led to today's lack of unified islands. What doesn't make sense is having a commonwealth/fiveeyes country bolted on the side of the EU.
    - anonymousDan 10y ago
      Mate if you're talking about Ireland then with respect you don't know what you're on about. For starters Ireland is neither a commonwealth country or (as far as I know) a five eyes country. Secondly Ireland is one of the countries with the highest EU approval ratings. And for good reason, the EU has been overwhelmingly good for Ireland. There is literally not a chance in hell of us leaving. Although the relationship between Ireland and Britain is strong, and certainly much better than it use to be, I think most people would be wary of becoming to dependent on them without the EU as a counterbalance given our history.
      - tropo 10y ago
        I mean the UK. The UK is a commonwealth country and a fiveeyes country. It makes no sense for the UK to be in the EU. The fact that Ireland has high EU approval ratings is immaterial to the fact that it's not logical to have it be apart from the UK. This is a tragic artifact of history. Ideally this would be fixed, but I agree it isn't likely to happen. You wouldn't need a counterbalance if things were done right, which is to have the larger chunks (today's England, Scotland, Republic of Ireland) be split into more similar-sized chunks. Having a couple dozen chunks (called what you like: parish, county, state, province...) is probably sane.
mattmanser 10y ago
Sour grapes! - The Euro collapses as countries leave - Spain and Italy leave the EU - the EU collapses completely within 20 years Look, we can all make wild claims! I voted remain, but your list is a farce. It's a list of the absolute worse case scenarios. Obama's gone, the US isn't going to follow through on that threat. It was just fear mongering because they liked the status quo. It was actually a massive misjudgement of the British psyche by Obama. He threatened us thinking it would help the Remain camp! That's not how Brits think, he probably convinced more people to vote Leave with that threat then anyone else, it was a stupid thing to do. The EU won't be too crazy as it needs access to the UK's market to keep their own economies afloat. It's in the interests of some EU politicians + bureaucrats, not in the interest of the actual states or companies in those to economically alienate the UK now. There's a lot of anti-EU feeling in a lot of other countries and attacking the UK using the unelected bureaucrats of the EU will fuel that, not reduce it. NI won't leave as it might start another civil war. The UK economy won't "collapse completely". Not important globally? The 5th or 6th biggest economy is "not that important globally". That's simply not true. EDIT: Also, what's actually happening in the EU at the moment? You might argue that they're attacking US companies. Data privacy laws. Google anti-trust laws. And the UK is leaving that? But somehow we'd be at the back of the queue...
- jacquesm 10y ago
  It's a ridiculous comment in many ways but there is an interesting glimpse there of how people are thinking about this. As for Google and Amazon and their datacenters in Ireland, as well as all the tax deals there I think that tax advisors are right now working overtime on how to limit the damage to their Irish clientele. Maybe a good time to buy land around Frankfurt a/M.
  - coredog64 10y ago
    There are 2 Irelands. Northern Ireland is part of the UK, Republic of Ireland is a sovereign nation. The latter is where all those DCs are.
    - jacquesm 10y ago
elemeno 10y ago
> The british economy will collapse completely, they are by far not that important globally. The UK has the worlds fifth largest economy by GDP and the second largest economy in the EU (Germany is larger, France is smaller) [1]. To claim that they're 'not that important globally' is, frankly, asinine. Do you really think that the EU won't also get hurt by the UK leaving? If you think it won't then it's worth asking why EUR/USD has also gone sharply down today... [1] http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/index.html http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/index....
- nailer 10y ago
  Sixth, as of this morning. Thanks Boris.
  - anonyfox 10y ago
    UK benefits mostly from the financial industry afaik. Does anyone really think that this sector will stay 100% in this situation? Bankers are already planning the migration to Frankfurt. This might as well lead to a spiral. We'll see. And yes, France is now a bigger economy than britain, and it's just been a few hours now.
    - bhouston 10y ago
      What is the reason for moving banking to Frankfurt? Is there regulatory issues? People do not just moving businesses for purely political reasons, there has to be concrete economic reasons. I actually think that the UK may be less regulated than EU exchanges and that may stay in order to keep the UK more attractive. If you do not list any real economic reasons, I think this is just scare talk.
      - jacquesm 10y ago
        > What is the reason for moving banking to Frankfurt? Stability plus the fact that Frankfurt is already a major financial hub, and that Germany is a major driver of the EU economy.
jacquesm 10y ago
> The british economy will collapse completely It won't but it will shrink significantly. > even when we sacrifice a generation of UK citizens for our benefit. Is the kind of language that has no place here or in any other discussion. Keep in mind that a good portion of the UK citizens voted 'remain' and that we do not do any sacrificing at all, since that includes me.
- NetStrikeForce 10y ago
  You're right. We don't need to sacrifice anyone and it's against EU values. They have just committed suicide.
paganel 10y ago
> the brexit is a strong signal for the other EU states to get their shit together and fix obvious problems As a fellow European I thought about this too, as I was trying to see a silver lining in all this. And then I went to read the comments on the French paper's Le Figaro website and got depressed again. Most of the people commenting in there really believed that the EU is to be accused of everything that's been going wrong with the French economy. If we do get a French referendum and if France leaves then the EU will just die. It pains me to put this down in words, but it's a valid possibility.
- jacquesm 10y ago
  Well, what will happen in the UK in the next couple of weeks/months/years might just be enough to show by example what the good bits of being a part of the EU are. The big mistake the brexit voters made is that they thought that the UK as it was before the EU would have been a better place to be in today if the EU had never happened. Contrary to their belief the sum is a lot more than the parts but explaining that to the electorate is a challenge that modern politics (soundbites and tweets) is badly equipped to deal with. Much easier to push the emotional buttons of xenophobia and economic malaise due to 'others'.
- tropo 10y ago
  Today's EU is like America prior to the ratification of the US constitution. It's not suitable for long-term functionality. You probably ought to convince Switzerland (an enclave) and Norway to join. You probably ought to convince Greece to leave. You then need federal taxes, a unified military command, a head of state, a single EU citizenship, and all the other trappings of a real country.
panic 10y ago
A "collapsed economy" is fertile ground for fascism and aggression. Be careful about what you're wishing for here.
- sangnoir 10y ago
  > A "collapsed economy" is fertile ground for fascism and aggression. Be careful about what you're wishing for here. Of course, this is the opposite of what Boris Johnson and Farage would want, right? You might be forgetting that no one outside of the UK could have changed this - the UK will reap what it (the majority of voters) has sown. That's one perverse curiosity question answered for me; the final one will be answered in the US in November! Good luck to the denizens on both sides of the pond.
cuchoi 10y ago
The US did a free trade agreement with my country, Chile. I doubt they find the UK not important enough to try to make a deal.
- choko 10y ago
  Agreed. The "back of the queue" comment made by President Obama was merely posturing by the administration and doesn't necessarily reflect the views of Americans as a whole or even American politicians as a whole.
- makomk 10y ago
  The US has free trade agreements with a lot of South American states due to them being linked by land, but even then it wasn't a fast process. I can certainly believe that the UK isn't high on the priority list.
  - cuchoi 10y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_free_trade_agreements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_free_trade_agree...
dogma1138 10y ago
There is a higher chance of the EU collapsing completely than for the UK economy to collapse and for it to turn into a demolished and isolated state. The general sentiments of your reply are exactly what people used to convince so many UK voters to vote for exit. The UK and the BrExit isn't a sacrificial lamb for you to gloat over.
znfi 10y ago
For whatever it's worth, as a European who has some reservations about the EU, even if it brings many good things too. I'll just say that if they start "punishing" the UK for leaving, my support for the EU will drop significantly. The need to keep member states in the union by threats would be a complete joke, and I would rather just call it a day.
- criddell 10y ago
  Well said. There's a big difference between "want to stay" and "afraid to leave". If the EU isn't working for the people, then it's pretty hard to support.
- return0 10y ago
  I 'm afraid it is going to become a common trope to frame everything that happens from now on upon whether it "punishes" the UK or not. The EU is now an economic area that is much more aligned to be honest, and the UK is a competitor. E.g. the euro is now a direct competitor to the GBP. The strong EU countries have greater coordination , and i expect that they will use it to their benefit, with the weaker economies following them, not because they are afraid to leave, but because they believe its success as a more cohesive union.
tom_mellior 10y ago
> The british economy will collapse completely Unlikely. More likely is that they will remain in the European Economic Area ("the internal market"). This means keeping their trade relations the same as they are, including all the EU regulations, but without a way to influence how the regulations evolve. In return they will save some membership fees (a net amount of about 80 Euros per person per year, IIRC). It's what Norway has done for decades, and what Norway has decided to keep doing in two or three referendums. Seems to be working OK for them. Of course this doesn't "fix" perceived problems with immigration, because the EEA includes the "four freedoms": free movements of goods, persons, services, and capital. But it seems that even a lot of Leave supporters find the single market more important than xenophobia.
youngtaff 10y ago
Be careful what you wish for, something like 20% of German build cars are exported to Britain The dogma of ever closer EU integration and the creation of a superstate is just as bad as the dogma of those who voted to withdraw from the EU
Bombthecat 10y ago
You wish that the EU will punish the UK. But that won't happen, partly because we don't want to punish the people living there. Partly because the UK is important after all. Partly because firms want to keep trading with the UK and want to keep there centers there, instead of moving around. And at the end, they are the ones calling the shots.
ocfx 10y ago
> the US already said that the UK isn't very important and are not very eager to make deals separately. And we do no longer have to deal with "special care" for british wishes, which often are the cause of endless discussions and bureaucracy. No Donald Trump said he was happy about and it would broke better deals with them as a result. He is going to be the US.

prodmerc 10y ago

Yes, I also think this is a chance to strengthen the rest of the EU. It may also be a start of countries leaving, but if the rest of the EU comes together and says "hey, we need to double down on this or else what the hell are we even doing" they may do the former. Which is a good thing imo, but a lot of people don't think so... The UK imports a lot of stuff from the mainland, they'll probably end up in the economic area (with all the strings attached) but with no say in the EU... maybe don't let the masses vote next time heh

Kristine1975 10y ago

>even when we sacrifice a generation of UK citizens for our benefit Such good news/s

throwaway987611 10y ago

I read this post coming from a German, since you promoted Frankfurt and Berlin. As an Englishman, let me tell you somethings from an opposing view. - International companies won't be moving to ireland/continent. The UK at one point wasn't as integrated and was doing quite well. It will do again. The financial industry will not leave London. It's not going to happen. There are many reasons why. Keep dreaming. London is the best startup in Europe currently. - Sure the EU can be hard as possible, but then so can the UK. There are many EU countries which export to the UK. It's not just a one way thing. - The British economy will not collapse. How you can think that I have no idea. Yes the pound did go down, it's gone down many times in history. But it will recover again. The Bank of England, already accounted for this. There is no panic. - The US said the UK is not that important? Says Obama because his dad is from Kenya hates the UK. But in reality it actually is. Germany, Spain, all other countries of EU are not as important as the UK. - Scotland will most likely want to exit. They are 4 million people after all. But when they do exit. All the British companies currently there, will leave to go to London. They'll join as another country like Estonia or worse off. I don't know if Europe will have them lol. - N. Ireland won't exit. They are deeply patriotic people and see themselves as British. Sorry. But I really don't think you know what you are talking about!

prodmerc 10y ago
Well, his post was pretty negative towards the UK, yours is a bit too positive... IMO Plenty of companies will move to Ireland/Germany. I think the EU/UK will reach agreements that are more or less the same as they are now (making Leave a bit pointless). The economy will not collapse, but it will be worse off short term. I don't think US cares more about either the EU/UK. Equal for all. If Scotland goes - why would those companies not move to the EU, since it would be about the same difficulty wise?
anonyfox 10y ago
Yes, we have deeply opposing views here, obviously. I can clearly see where you're coming from and follow the logic. Having said that, I strongly disagree, see my initial post. Only the future will tell who will be right (or none of us?). Political Power Play is a gamble, and I bet strongly on a more united europe. Others do different bets, as seen in the brexit vote. All sides contain competent and educated people finally.

supercarrot 10y ago

definitely beneficial. GB was occasionally blocking some EU proposals based on no significant evidence they are that bad to be blocked.

koralatov 10y ago

> this may be good news for the EU, even when we > sacrifice a generation of UK citizens for our benefit. As a British citizen, I'm appalled by the sentiment expressed here. It flies in the face of the ideas and values upon which the EU was founded. I'm not going to say anything beyond that.

anonymousDan 10y ago
As an Irish citizen I have to say that I certainly don't see it as a hood thing for Europe. It's influence will be sorely missed for what it's worth.
- tropo 10y ago
  It's very unfortunate that you won't be going with them. You are close to them and have the same language. It just makes sense, but sadly the old disputes over religion (looking silly now) have led to today's lack of unified islands. What doesn't make sense is having a commonwealth/fiveeyes country bolted on the side of the EU.
  - anonymousDan 10y ago
    Mate if you're talking about Ireland then with respect you don't know what you're on about. For starters Ireland is neither a commonwealth country or (as far as I know) a five eyes country. Secondly Ireland is one of the countries with the highest EU approval ratings. And for good reason, the EU has been overwhelmingly good for Ireland. There is literally not a chance in hell of us leaving. Although the relationship between Ireland and Britain is strong, and certainly much better than it use to be, I think most people would be wary of becoming to dependent on them without the EU as a counterbalance given our history.
    - tropo 10y ago
      I mean the UK. The UK is a commonwealth country and a fiveeyes country. It makes no sense for the UK to be in the EU. The fact that Ireland has high EU approval ratings is immaterial to the fact that it's not logical to have it be apart from the UK. This is a tragic artifact of history. Ideally this would be fixed, but I agree it isn't likely to happen. You wouldn't need a counterbalance if things were done right, which is to have the larger chunks (today's England, Scotland, Republic of Ireland) be split into more similar-sized chunks. Having a couple dozen chunks (called what you like: parish, county, state, province...) is probably sane.

mattmanser 10y ago

Sour grapes! - The Euro collapses as countries leave - Spain and Italy leave the EU - the EU collapses completely within 20 years Look, we can all make wild claims! I voted remain, but your list is a farce. It's a list of the absolute worse case scenarios. Obama's gone, the US isn't going to follow through on that threat. It was just fear mongering because they liked the status quo. It was actually a massive misjudgement of the British psyche by Obama. He threatened us thinking it would help the Remain camp! That's not how Brits think, he probably convinced more people to vote Leave with that threat then anyone else, it was a stupid thing to do. The EU won't be too crazy as it needs access to the UK's market to keep their own economies afloat. It's in the interests of some EU politicians + bureaucrats, not in the interest of the actual states or companies in those to economically alienate the UK now. There's a lot of anti-EU feeling in a lot of other countries and attacking the UK using the unelected bureaucrats of the EU will fuel that, not reduce it. NI won't leave as it might start another civil war. The UK economy won't "collapse completely". Not important globally? The 5th or 6th biggest economy is "not that important globally". That's simply not true. EDIT: Also, what's actually happening in the EU at the moment? You might argue that they're attacking US companies. Data privacy laws. Google anti-trust laws. And the UK is leaving that? But somehow we'd be at the back of the queue...

jacquesm 10y ago
It's a ridiculous comment in many ways but there is an interesting glimpse there of how people are thinking about this. As for Google and Amazon and their datacenters in Ireland, as well as all the tax deals there I think that tax advisors are right now working overtime on how to limit the damage to their Irish clientele. Maybe a good time to buy land around Frankfurt a/M.
- coredog64 10y ago
  There are 2 Irelands. Northern Ireland is part of the UK, Republic of Ireland is a sovereign nation. The latter is where all those DCs are.
  - jacquesm 10y ago

elemeno 10y ago

> The british economy will collapse completely, they are by far not that important globally. The UK has the worlds fifth largest economy by GDP and the second largest economy in the EU (Germany is larger, France is smaller) [1]. To claim that they're 'not that important globally' is, frankly, asinine. Do you really think that the EU won't also get hurt by the UK leaving? If you think it won't then it's worth asking why EUR/USD has also gone sharply down today... [1] http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/index.html http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/index....

nailer 10y ago
Sixth, as of this morning. Thanks Boris.
- anonyfox 10y ago
  UK benefits mostly from the financial industry afaik. Does anyone really think that this sector will stay 100% in this situation? Bankers are already planning the migration to Frankfurt. This might as well lead to a spiral. We'll see. And yes, France is now a bigger economy than britain, and it's just been a few hours now.
  - bhouston 10y ago
    What is the reason for moving banking to Frankfurt? Is there regulatory issues? People do not just moving businesses for purely political reasons, there has to be concrete economic reasons. I actually think that the UK may be less regulated than EU exchanges and that may stay in order to keep the UK more attractive. If you do not list any real economic reasons, I think this is just scare talk.
    - jacquesm 10y ago
      > What is the reason for moving banking to Frankfurt? Stability plus the fact that Frankfurt is already a major financial hub, and that Germany is a major driver of the EU economy.

jacquesm 10y ago

> The british economy will collapse completely It won't but it will shrink significantly. > even when we sacrifice a generation of UK citizens for our benefit. Is the kind of language that has no place here or in any other discussion. Keep in mind that a good portion of the UK citizens voted 'remain' and that we do not do any sacrificing at all, since that includes me.

NetStrikeForce 10y ago
You're right. We don't need to sacrifice anyone and it's against EU values. They have just committed suicide.

paganel 10y ago

> the brexit is a strong signal for the other EU states to get their shit together and fix obvious problems As a fellow European I thought about this too, as I was trying to see a silver lining in all this. And then I went to read the comments on the French paper's Le Figaro website and got depressed again. Most of the people commenting in there really believed that the EU is to be accused of everything that's been going wrong with the French economy. If we do get a French referendum and if France leaves then the EU will just die. It pains me to put this down in words, but it's a valid possibility.

jacquesm 10y ago
Well, what will happen in the UK in the next couple of weeks/months/years might just be enough to show by example what the good bits of being a part of the EU are. The big mistake the brexit voters made is that they thought that the UK as it was before the EU would have been a better place to be in today if the EU had never happened. Contrary to their belief the sum is a lot more than the parts but explaining that to the electorate is a challenge that modern politics (soundbites and tweets) is badly equipped to deal with. Much easier to push the emotional buttons of xenophobia and economic malaise due to 'others'.
tropo 10y ago
Today's EU is like America prior to the ratification of the US constitution. It's not suitable for long-term functionality. You probably ought to convince Switzerland (an enclave) and Norway to join. You probably ought to convince Greece to leave. You then need federal taxes, a unified military command, a head of state, a single EU citizenship, and all the other trappings of a real country.

panic 10y ago

A "collapsed economy" is fertile ground for fascism and aggression. Be careful about what you're wishing for here.

sangnoir 10y ago
> A "collapsed economy" is fertile ground for fascism and aggression. Be careful about what you're wishing for here. Of course, this is the opposite of what Boris Johnson and Farage would want, right? You might be forgetting that no one outside of the UK could have changed this - the UK will reap what it (the majority of voters) has sown. That's one perverse curiosity question answered for me; the final one will be answered in the US in November! Good luck to the denizens on both sides of the pond.

cuchoi 10y ago

The US did a free trade agreement with my country, Chile. I doubt they find the UK not important enough to try to make a deal.

choko 10y ago
Agreed. The "back of the queue" comment made by President Obama was merely posturing by the administration and doesn't necessarily reflect the views of Americans as a whole or even American politicians as a whole.
makomk 10y ago
The US has free trade agreements with a lot of South American states due to them being linked by land, but even then it wasn't a fast process. I can certainly believe that the UK isn't high on the priority list.
- cuchoi 10y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_free_trade_agreements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_free_trade_agree...

dogma1138 10y ago

There is a higher chance of the EU collapsing completely than for the UK economy to collapse and for it to turn into a demolished and isolated state. The general sentiments of your reply are exactly what people used to convince so many UK voters to vote for exit. The UK and the BrExit isn't a sacrificial lamb for you to gloat over.

znfi 10y ago

For whatever it's worth, as a European who has some reservations about the EU, even if it brings many good things too. I'll just say that if they start "punishing" the UK for leaving, my support for the EU will drop significantly. The need to keep member states in the union by threats would be a complete joke, and I would rather just call it a day.

criddell 10y ago
Well said. There's a big difference between "want to stay" and "afraid to leave". If the EU isn't working for the people, then it's pretty hard to support.
return0 10y ago
I 'm afraid it is going to become a common trope to frame everything that happens from now on upon whether it "punishes" the UK or not. The EU is now an economic area that is much more aligned to be honest, and the UK is a competitor. E.g. the euro is now a direct competitor to the GBP. The strong EU countries have greater coordination , and i expect that they will use it to their benefit, with the weaker economies following them, not because they are afraid to leave, but because they believe its success as a more cohesive union.

tom_mellior 10y ago

> The british economy will collapse completely Unlikely. More likely is that they will remain in the European Economic Area ("the internal market"). This means keeping their trade relations the same as they are, including all the EU regulations, but without a way to influence how the regulations evolve. In return they will save some membership fees (a net amount of about 80 Euros per person per year, IIRC). It's what Norway has done for decades, and what Norway has decided to keep doing in two or three referendums. Seems to be working OK for them. Of course this doesn't "fix" perceived problems with immigration, because the EEA includes the "four freedoms": free movements of goods, persons, services, and capital. But it seems that even a lot of Leave supporters find the single market more important than xenophobia.

youngtaff 10y ago

Be careful what you wish for, something like 20% of German build cars are exported to Britain The dogma of ever closer EU integration and the creation of a superstate is just as bad as the dogma of those who voted to withdraw from the EU

Bombthecat 10y ago

You wish that the EU will punish the UK. But that won't happen, partly because we don't want to punish the people living there. Partly because the UK is important after all. Partly because firms want to keep trading with the UK and want to keep there centers there, instead of moving around. And at the end, they are the ones calling the shots.

ocfx 10y ago

> the US already said that the UK isn't very important and are not very eager to make deals separately. And we do no longer have to deal with "special care" for british wishes, which often are the cause of endless discussions and bureaucracy. No Donald Trump said he was happy about and it would broke better deals with them as a result. He is going to be the US.