Brexit: It’s all you hear about, but what does it mean for you?

Brexit is Britain exiting the European Union. The European Union is made up of 28 countries in Europe that are unified to promote peace, create easier trade and immigration through borders, and a mainly unified currency.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister at the time ordered a referendum. On June 23, 2016, it resulted in a 52% vs 48% vote in favor of leaving the European Union. When the people voted in favor of leaving the EU, Cameron stepped down from office and Theresa May became the new Prime Minister.

On March 29, 2017, the UK government put Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union into motion, and started the process of leaving the EU. Article 50 grants all members of the EU permission to leave the European Union. Theresa May and the UK government are now in search of a deal to leave the EU. Without a deal, all the current trade agreements the UK has with the world will no longer exist.

Currently, by British law, the UK has to leave the EU on March 29, 2019. However, the British government is still trying to agree on the terms of the exit from the EU and are questioning whether or not to have another referendum.

Before:

Currently, the UK is considered a major hub in the EU allowing many companies to be based in the UK while still doing business with the rest of the EU states.

For British citizens, travel between the UK and other EU states is efficient and convenient as British citizens are not required to have a visa to travel around the EU.

The Treaty on European Union established easier trade through borders making it cheaper to import mass amounts of food.

After:

Many companies might relocate their headquarters into the EU in order to continue to do business with the remaining EU states.

British citizens will have to attain a visa and pass through stricter border control to enter EU states.

A short term effect of Brexit could be having a fresh produce shortage, and an increase in prices because of the issues regarding trade and borders between the UK and EU.

What do students know about Brexit?

“Let’s say you want to bring Lindt chocolates from Switzerland, which are so good, that means they’ll cost much more when you buy them from England. I don’t think it is a good decision to make.” – Emmet Meidar, Grade 5

“I don’t know too much about Brexit…but it’s causing a lot of problems with border control.” – Carter Weil, Grade 6

“It’s a big mess…if you watch the videos, everyone is just yelling at each other and it’s very complicated.” – Alexandra Braun, Grade 7

“They voted to leave and that is pretty devastating. Basically, that means that there is probably going to be a lot less free trade…and generally it could be bad, it could be good, it depends.” – Gabriel Romualdo, Grade 8

Photos by Casey Johnston and Lola Henninger

Brexit: It’s all you hear about, but what does it mean for you?

About Willa Blair ('23) and Alexis Lien ('23)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply