Brexit, why is the UK leaving the EU? How will the EU
be affected by this?
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Introduction
The European Union (EU) is set up and created to end the wars and provide a peaceful
relationship between neighbors and the compromising countries that become members of the
union. Moreover, the union is created based on common goals between these countries, as well
as interests and policies that would benefit the countries, additionally, reduce damage to their
internal and external policies and economies. Since its start of the corporation in 1951, several
communities and treaties have been made to provide better relationships and trade between the
member states of the EU from making the Single Market to other communities. Furthermore,
EU members can make imports and exports easier and without tariffs which have benefited the
economy of EU members. There are different motivations and interests for countries to join
the EU, and also there are reasons for current EU members to leave the union such as the United
Kingdom (UK). The main discussion of this report is defining what is Brexit, answering the
questions of why the UK is leaving the EU, and How the EU will be affected by this.
What does Brexit mean?
The term Brexit means British exit from the EU and follows after months of negotiation of the
UK leaving the EU. The voting process took place in 2016; however, the final and actual exit
occurred on Jan 31, 2020. The UK has left its biggest trading partner this agreement also
contained not to change many things because leaving the EU means that the UK will be looked
at as any foreign country. The disruption that is facing Britain and the countries of the EU has
led to delays in imports and negotiations on taxes. According to the British Retail Consortium,
this is the biggest imposition of official rules that businesses are facing in 50 years. For
instance, within the EU, the members had agreed not to put tariffs or tax on goods and products
of each other by maintaining a fully free trading system. Many factors and critical political,
economic, and trade-related reasoning has led to Brexit, meaning the country will do better
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without the restrictions and policies of the EU. Therefore, the Brexit deal was arranged to
determine the prolonged relationship between the EU and the UK on the basis of advantages
to both side, meanwhile, the UK has full independence in changing trade policies.2
The UK’s history with the EU
The United Kingdom first became a member state of the European Union, the predecessor
European Economic Community, in 1973. This was a step taken by the country to widen and
enhance the political co-operation between the country and the other members of the EU. At
the time, the country was vetoed to join based on political, economic, and acceptance of the
Community acquis parameters. The countries within the union form a united corporation based
on common political and economic advantages. The same policies are applied to each and all
the countries. The union allows the countries to trade with each other with no tariffs and taxes.
For Britain at the time, there were more benefits in joining the EU than to remain outside
especially after the years of World War II when the European countries put their full focus on
rebuilding their infrastructure and political negotiations became the only democratic way of
solving problems rather than war.
Why is the UK leaving the EU?
Over the last decade, there have been large variations in attitude from the UK towards the
European Union. The separation was mainly derived by the vote of the people in the 2016
referendum. The main motive behind Brexit was the fact that membership in the union did no
longer deliver what the country required the most such as a prosperous economy, control over
2 BBC News. (2020, December 30). Brexit: What you need to know about the UK leaving the EU.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-32810887
immigration and the loads, protection against terrorism and crime, and efficient public and
social services. In addition, the people had the belief that not only the European Union was not
delivering these goals but it also prevented the British government from rescuing the country.
Therefore, Brexit became a part of the negotiations between the country and the EU in order to
regain total independence as well as keeping peaceful and beneficial relationships at the same
time.
Immigration Overload
One of the strong motives behind Brexit was the immigration overload on the country.
Immigrants from both EU and other countries exerted an additional economic pressure on the
UK governments and the population. In the last decade, immigration towards the EU countries
supervened from unsafe countries. The European Union did not allow the UK to act and
