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Let politicians in your life, and you invite eternal strife, not to mention delays, obfuscation, and economies with the truth. My apologies to Professor Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady.”
Britain voted to exit the European Union (EU) on June 23, 2016, now more than three years ago. The official departure date was to have been March 29, 2019; the departure date was moved to October 2019. Just like the lyrics from the Eagles’ Hotel California, “…you can check out any time you like, but you never get to leave.”
It was difficult enough to get into the predecessor organization to the EU. Britain joined the EEC on January 1, 1973, after its third try, if my research on the Internet is correct.
The Maastricht Treaty on November 1, 1993, established the EU. The EU launched the Euro as a common currency on January 1, 2002. Another bad idea gone horribly wrong. A pure free market open to every country in Europe, including Russia, would have been a much more understandable and pragmatic idea. Politicians seem unable to accept simple solutions. They add complexity on every front, including moving the supranational EU to Brussels with no transparency, accountability, or real representation.
Britain wants its sovereignty back, and I don’t blame them. From my vantage point, the so-called United States of Europe was a bad idea from the get-go. How could it be otherwise? So many different cultures and languages, and many years of conflict. The 50 states in the United States have a common language, English, with regional cultures, and we have a tough time moving forward with policies and legislation that are in the national interest. That is Mission Impossible for the 28 countries in the EU.
My advice to those countries in the EU is the following: Watch what Switzerland does and follow suit. How easy is that? Well at least Britain kept the pound, that was a step in the right direction.
