A referendum was held in June 2016 in which 52% of 30 million U.K. residents voted that Britain should leave the European Union. Voters were promised that majority would define Britain’s decision to stay or leave, and surely enough, 3 and half years later, Brexit has come to pass. Severing ties with the union which it had been a part of for 40 years, the UK officially stopped being a member of the EU at near midnight GMT, 31st January.
Britain will be the first member to leave the EU, an expansive union comprised of 28 countries. Some of the defining characteristics of the EU are that not only does it allow free trade among member countries, liberating the exchange of goods, but it also allows free movement of people—residents can live and work in any country at their own discretion and choice.
Though an agreement of terms has been settled, a transition period of 11 months immediately follows this formal Brexit, during which both the EU and the UK will concretely define the terms of their future relationship and interactions. The UK will “continue to follow all of the EU’s rules and its trading relationship will remain the same” until the period ends.
Apparently, one controversial facet of Brexit prolonged its actual occurrence: “the backstop.” Initially negotiated by former British Prime Minister Theresa May, who was replaced by Boris Johnson in July 2019, was an attempt to maintain a “close trading relationship with the EU,” ensuring that there would be “no border posts or barriers between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland” after Brexit ensued.
The backstop was revoked, and instead, the deal stipulates that certain goods traveling from the UK to Northern Ireland will be subject to checks, taxes, and other customs-related policies. Other aspects of the deal, however, remain mostly the same, including how much compensation the EU receives from the UK, the rights of EU residents living in the UK, and so on.
Darlon Rivere - Staff Writer