BREXIT

Brexit is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European

Union (EU). Following a UK-wide referendum in June 2016, in which 52%
voted to leave and 48% voted to remain in the EU, the British
government formally announced the country's withdrawal in March 2017,
beginning the Brexit process.

The withdrawal was delayed by

deadlock in the British parliament.
Following general elections
in 2017 and 2019,
Parliament ratified the withdrawal
agreement, and the UK left the EU at
11 p.m. GMT on 31 January 2020.

This began a transition period that is set

to end on 31 December 2020, during which the UK and EU are negotiating
their future relationship. The UK remains subject to EU law and remains part
of the EU customs union and single market during the transition, but is no
longer part of the EU's political bodies or institutions.

WHAT IS THE EU?

The EU is an economic and political
union involving 28 European countries.
It allows free trade, which means
goods can move between member
countries without any checks or extra
charges. The EU also allows free
movement of people, to live and work
in whichever country they choose.

The UK joined in 1973 (when it was known as the European Economic

Community) and it is the first member state to withdraw.
The EU's purpose is to be more competitive in the global marketplace. At the
same time, it must balance the needs of its independent fiscal and political
members.

The EU has developed an internal single market through a

standardised system of laws that apply in all member states in those matters,
and only those matters, where members have agreed to act as one.

The euro is the common

currency for the EU.

Formation of the EU

In 1950, the concept of a European trade area was first established. The
European Coal and Steel Community had six founding members: Belgium,
France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

In 1957, the Treaty of Rome established a common market. It eliminated

customs duties in 1968. It put in place standard policies, particularly in trade
and agriculture. In 1973, the ECSC added Denmark, Ireland, and the United
Kingdom. It created its first Parliament in 1979. Greece joined in 1981,
followed by Spain and Portugal in 1986.

In 1993, the Treaty of Maastricht established the European Union common

market. Two years later, the EU added Austria, Sweden, and Finland. In
2004, twelve more countries joined: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Bulgaria
and Romania joined in 2007.

In 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon increased the powers of the European

Parliament. It gave the EU the legal authority to negotiate and sign
international treaties. It increased EU powers, border control, immigration,
judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, and police cooperation. It
abandoned the idea of a European Constitution. European law is still
established by international treaties.
Members of the EU

Belgium France

Germany Ireland

Its 27 member countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,

Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,
Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and
Sweden.

How EU has helped other nations :

The outbreak of the coronavirus is affecting all countries and member states
and the EU are determined to tackle it together. This support is not only in the
form of donations of essential medical equipment such as masks and
ventilators. Countries are also taking in critically ill patients from other parts of
the EU and helping to repatriate EU citizens who have been left stranded
abroad. Everyone, regardless of the country’s size, is pitching in. Countries
are also pooling resources to bring stranded Europeans back home. Since the
start of the outbreak, thousands of EU citizens have been brought back. One
 in three passengers is not from the EU country organising the flight. Many
more flights are being organised with more seats being made available to
other EU nationals.

BREXIT
On 29 March 2017, the UK government formally began the withdrawal
process by invoking Article 50 of the Treaty on European
Union with permission from Parliament. May called a snap general election in
June 2017, which resulted in a Conservative minority
government supported by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). UK–
EU withdrawal negotiations began later that month. The UK negotiated to
leave the EU customs union and single market. This resulted in the November
2018 withdrawal agreement, but the British
parliament voted against ratifying it three times. 
On 14 March 2019, the British parliament voted for
Theresa May to ask the EU to delay Brexit until
June, and then later October.[5] Having failed to get
her agreement approved, May resigned as Prime
Minister in July and was succeeded by Boris
Johnson. He sought to replace parts of the
agreement and vowed to leave the EU by the new
Theresa May
deadline.
On 17 October 2019, the British government and
the EU agreed on a revised withdrawal agreement, with new arrangements for
Northern Ireland. Parliament approved the agreement for
further scrutiny, but rejected passing it into law before
the 31 October deadline, and forced the government
(through the "Benn Act") to ask for a third Brexit delay.
An early general election was then held on 12
December. The Conservatives won a large majority in
that election, with Johnson declaring that the UK would
leave the EU in early 2020.The withdrawal agreement
was ratified by the UK on 23 January and by the EU on
30 January; it came into force on 31 January.
Boris Johnson, PM
What happens after Brexit day?

The UK formally left the EU on 31 January 2020, but there is still a lot to talk
about and months of negotiation to come.

While the UK has agreed the terms of its EU departure, both sides still need to
decide what their future relationship will look like.
This will need to be worked out during the transition period (which some prefer
to call the implementation period), which began immediately after Brexit day
and is due to end on 31 December 2020.

During this 11-month period, the UK will continue to follow all of the EU's rules
and its trading relationship will remain the same.

What needs to be agreed?

The transition period is meant to give both sides some breathing space
while a new free trade agreement is negotiated.

This is needed because the UK will leave the single market and customs
union at the end of the transition. A free trade agreement will allow goods to
move around the EU without checks or extra charges.

If a new one cannot be agreed in time, then the UK faces the prospect of
having to trade with no deal in place. That would mean tariffs (taxes) on UK
goods travelling to the EU and other trade barriers.

Aside from trade, many other aspects of the future UK-EU relationship will
also need to be decided. For example:

 Law enforcement, data sharing and security

 Aviation standards and safety

 Access to fishing waters

 Supplies of electricity and gas

 Licensing and regulation of medicines

Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists the transition period will not be extended,
but the European Commission has warned that the timetable will be extremely
challenging.

The transition period and other aspects of the UK's departure were agreed in
a deal called the withdrawal agreement.

Most of that was negotiated by Theresa May's government. But after Boris
Johnson replaced her in July 2019, he negotiated some changes to it.

Until the transition ends, most things will stay the same. This includes:

 Travelling to and from the EU (including the rules around driving

licences and pet passports)

 Freedom of movement (the right to live and work in the EU and vice
versa)

 UK-EU trade, which will continue without any extra charges or checks
being introduced

Why does the UK need an EU trade deal?

The UK will need an agreement with the EU to stop new tariffs and other trade
barriers coming into force after the transition period ends on 31 December
2020.

During the transition period the UK will remain part of the EU's trading
arrangements - the single market and the customs union. That means no
tariffs, quotas or checks will be introduced.

The point of the transition is to give both sides some breathing space while a
trade deal is negotiated, and to give businesses time to get ready.

If any trade deals are reached, either with the EU or other countries, they will
not start until the transition period ends.
IMPACT:

 Brexit caused the European Union to lose its second-largest economy, its

third-most populous country, and the second-largest net contributor to the
EU budget. Brexit will result in an additional financial burden for the
remaining net contributors, unless the budget is reduced accordingly. 

 After Brexit, the UK will leave the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP),

[265]
 which provides government financial support to farmers in the EU. The
UK receives much less than it contributes. Brexit allows the UK to develop
its own agriculture policy.

 Economists expect that Brexit will have damaging immediate and longer

term effects on the economies of the UK.
In particular, there is a broad consensus among economists and in the
economic literature that Brexit will likely reduce the UK's real per capita
income in the medium and long term, and that the Brexit referendum itselg
damaged the economy.
 Brexit poses challenges to British academia and research, as the UK is
likely to lose research funding from EU sources; see a reduction in
students from the EU; find it harder to hire researchers from the EU; and
UK students will find it harder to study abroad in the EU.

 After Brexit, the UK will have the final say over the laws that govern
it. Under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, EU laws will no
longer have supremacy over UK laws after Brexit. To maintain continuity,
the Act converts EU law into UK law as "retained EU law". After Brexit, the
British parliament (and the devolved legislatures) can decide which
elements of that law to keep, amend or repeal. Furthermore, UK courts will
 no longer be bound by the judgments of the EU Court of Justice after
Brexit.

 After Brexit, the UK would be able to control immigration from the EU

and EEA (European Economic Area).

 Concerns have been raised that Brexit might create security problems for
the UK, particularly in law enforcement and counter-terrorism where the
UK could use the EU's databases on individuals crossing the British
border.

Impact of Brexit on the EU:

As the EU's third most populous state, with over 12% of the Union's
population, the UK was an influential player in the European Parliament and
the Council of the European Union. Its absence will impact the ideological
balance within the EU institutions.

The UK was a key asset for the EU in the fields of foreign affairs and defence
given that the UK was (with France) one of the EU's two major military
powers, and has significant intelligence capabilities, soft power and a far
reaching diplomatic network. Without the UK, EU foreign policy could be less
influential.
The US saw the UK as a bridge between the US and Europe, and the UK
helped align the EU positions to the US and provide tougher policy towards
Russia.

British people in the European union could lose their European citizen rights.

The UK was allotted 73 seats in the 751 seat European Parliament, which
became vacant upon its withdrawal in 2020. 27 of these seats were
redistributed to other countries, with the remaining 46 reserved for potential
new member states, reducing the number of MEPs to 705.