Brexit: Civil Services Mentor Magazine: June - 2016

Brexit

A referendum will be held on 23 June in UK to decide whether Britain should leave or remain in the European Union. A referendum is basically a vote in which everyone of voting age can take part, normally giving a "Yes" or "No" answer to a question. Whichever side gets more than half of all votes cast is considered to have won. The European Union - often known as the EU - is an economic and political partnership involving 28 European countries. Formation of EU is not an one stop idea. EU formation went through long period of negotiations. Process started after the world war II. In order to reconstruct the Europe, which was in need of heavy investment after the two world wars.

European countries especially France and Germany decided despite being a past of brutal wars, if they want to keep going and reconstruct Europe again they need to reduce the trade barriers. There was also realisation among the eastern European nations that bigger enemy is not within East Europe rather the Soviet Union. For this initially few years after the WW-II six East European countries came up with European coal and Steel company (ECSC). It removed the tarrif barriers and reduced non tarrif barriers between these countries for the production of coal and steel. After this The European Economic Community (EEC) came into existence through the treaty of Rome. The Community's initial aim was to bring about economic integration, including a common market and customs union, among its six founding members: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany.

European Union came into existence with the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993. a complete single market was achieved, known as the internal market, which allowed for the free movement of goods, capital, services, and people within the EEC. Upon the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, the EEC was renamed the European Community to reflect that it covered a wider range than economic policy. The EC existed in this form until it was abolished by the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon, which incorporated the EC's institutions into the EU's wider framework and provided that the EU would "replace and succeed the European Community". EU has since become a "single market" allowing goods and people to move around, basically as if the member states were one country. It has its own currency, the euro, its own parliament and it now sets rules in a wide range of areas - including on the environment, transport, consumer rights and even things like mobile phone charges.

However this has not been totally smooth. Countries need to compromise some national sovereign powers to supranational authority. Treaty of westphalia said made national superiority in national matters. In case of EU various national decision making powers have been provided to the supra-national authority. Desicions like trade barriers to various goods are decided by the EU and not the national authorities. Countries in EuroZone have the single currency. There monetary policy is also decided by the European central bank. Two decades after the treaty of maastricht some countries started feeling that they have not benefited from the EU. UK is one among the such countries where some section of the people feel that Britain would have done better without being part of EU. Prime Minister David Cameron promised to hold a referendum if he won the 2015 general election, in response to growing calls from his own Conservative MPs and the UK Independence Party (UKIP), who argued that Britain had not had a say since 1975, when it voted to stay in the EU in a referendum. The EU has changed a lot since then, gaining more control over our daily lives, they argued.

British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens over 18 who are resident in the UK, along with UK nationals living abroad who have been on the electoral register in the UK in the past 15 years will vote in this referendum. Members of the House of Lords and Commonwealth citizens in Gibraltar will also be eligible. David Cameron sought an agreement with other European Union leaders to change the terms of Britain's membership. He says the deal, which will take effect immediately if the UK votes to remain in the EU, gives Britain "special" status within the 28 nation club, and will help sort out some of the things British people say they don't like about the EU, such as high levels of immigration and giving up the ability to run our own affairs.

The main points of the deal are:

Child benefit - Migrant workers will still be able to send child benefit payments back to to their home country - Mr Cameron had wanted to end this practice - but the payments will be set at a level reflecting the cost of living in their home country rather than the full UK rate Migrant welfare payments - Mr Cameron says cutting the amount of benefits low paid workers from other EU nations can claim when they take a job in the UK will remove one of the reasons people come to Britain in such large numbers.

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