4 ms·
>inflexibility on the EU side triggered the Brexit referendum. That's a bit of a stretch
by corford 18d ago
>inflexibility on the EU side triggered the Brexit referendum.
That's a bit of a stretch
- fidotron 18d agoIt's literally what happened. Cameron was trying to reduce the scope of EU integration with the UK (esp freedom of movement), with the threat he didn't want to use of a referendum, the EU said no (as the other commenter explained partly to disincentivize others, but also because they thought he was bluffing and people would never vote to leave), so the referendum was held.
- thih9 18d agoTo be fair, freedom of movement is one of the core principles[1] of the EU. Restricting that is a tall ask, I wouldn't describe refusing that as being inflexible. [1]: https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/principles-and-values/aims-and-values_en https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-histor... "Freedom of movement gives citizens the right to move and reside freely within the Union."
- gizajob 18d agoI kind of made a point like this in the other thread - during Brexit it was a very hard No from the EU that they couldn’t negotiate on key points such as freedom of movement, and countries are either IN and have everything the EU comes with, or they’re out. Now, it seems, that Canada is being offered a favourable half-in arrangement simply because they’ve never before been involved. Seems pretty bizarre and arbitrary for the EU, but also totally standard for the EU because it’s bizarre and arbitrary.
- foldr 18d agoThis potential deal for Canada comes with compromises which would obviously be unacceptable to the UK (e.g. no full voting rights).
- gizajob 18d agoLikely as unacceptable to Canadians.
- rsynnott 18d agoEEA nations (Norway, Iceland etc) have found them acceptable, and preferable to fully joining up.
- thunderfork 18d agoIt's fine by me (sample size 1 Canuck)
- fidotron 18d agoDoes anyone actually know publicly what is and isn't the deal for associate membership? At least here (in Canada) I'm not seeing any concrete details.
- jeromegv 18d agoNo, nothing public, we are all speculating. But we can surely guess at 99% that Canada would get no voting power, being that we are in North America and Canada isn't interested in that kind of arrangement.
- drdexebtjl 18d agoThe crucial distinction is which half is in which “half-in” agreement. They are not offering Canada conditions that the UK would have wanted.
- Jackpillar 18d agoNot sure why its so difficult for you to understand the obvious goal of taking a hardline stance on leaving the EU as a member state vs onboarding possible partnerships, members, etc. You're looking at this backwards.
- grumbelbart2 18d agoCameron wanted to split the four freedoms. Canada does not, from what I can read.
- antalis 18d agoThat's wrong, he did get what he wanted before the referendum: "After the deal had been approved, Cameron described it as giving the United Kingdom "special status within the European Union" and immediately declared that both he and the UK Government would campaign for a "Remain" vote in the referendum within a "reformed European Union"." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%932016_United_Kingdom_renegotiation_of_European_Union_membership https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%932016_United_Kingd...
- rjsw 18d agoI think that the EU would be in worse shape today if the UK had followed most other members at the time and restricted freedom of movement to it for the countries that joined in 2004 and 2007. It would have been nice to have got some credit for that.