Brits will vote on membership in the EU
A June 23 date has been set for a British referendum on its EU membership:
Cameron said he was making good on a 2013 commitment to give British voters a chance to decide whether to remain in the bloc, which is seen by some Britons as meddlesome, overly bureaucratic, and unable to control its borders.
Britain has always remained somewhat apart from the European project, preferring to keep its own currency rather than adopt the euro and declining to join the passport-free Schengen zone in place in much of Europe.
The June vote will come as the EU struggles to cope with a sustained immigration crisis that last year brought more than 1 million people fleeing war and poverty to its shores.
The referendum battle pits those who believe Britain is better off in a formal union with Germany, France and other countries against those who see Britain as a proud island nation better capable of managing its affairs on its own.
Cameron is for membership, and he’s selling it to the people with the idea that Britain will be able to get the benefits of EU membership without the pain:
He said a landmark deal reached the day before with EU leaders in Brussels would give Britain more control over its future, lessen welfare payments to migrants who come to Britain, and protect Britain from being absorbed into a feared European “superstate.”
I know that, were I a Brit, I’d vote to stay as far away from the EU as possible. I would not trust a deal, because the British goal of relative autonomy runs directly counter to every impulse of the EU leaders for homogenization “for the greater good.” Polls say the electorate is pretty split on the issue, and most business leaders favor Cameron’s position.
If Britain does end up voting against the EU, I wonder if the effect could be contagious.
If the referendum goes against the E.U., I suspect that the E.U. will simply take steps to bring them back into the fold, so to speak.
E.U. = Deutschland éœber Alles but by peaceful means.
KRB
Amazing and sad that today’s leader of the party of Churchill and Thatcher would campaign to turn over the UK’s sovereignty to the EU bureaucrats.
Look at Denmark.
Once the matter is put to the people — the Brussels juggernaut is rejected.
Usually by large margins.
Inconsequential really, when the larger issue of the Islamization of Europe is considered. The EU and the UK are living on borrowed time, as they rush toward their self-imposed fate.
This is something I got very wrong while studying the proposed EU in graduate school. I hope the Brits vote to retain their sovereignty and others follow.
Boris Johnson commits himself to the “Out” campaign. This is going to get very interesting.
These are the “details” as reported by Reuters:
“Following are key details from a new EU deal with Britain on Friday, seen by Reuters:
TREATY CHANGE
“Two elements of the package are to be enshrined in future EU treaty amendments: a special exemption for Britain from further political integration under “ever closer union”; and elements of an accord to ensure fair treatment of financial and economic arrangements between the euro zone and non-euro EU states.
IN-WORK BENEFITS
“Britain will be entitled to deny in-work benefits to newly arrived workers from other EU states for their first four years in the country; it will be able to apply this “emergency brake” to new arrivals during a seven-year period from the measure first being used.
CHILD BENEFIT
“An EU-wide indexation system affecting payments of child benefit to workers whose children live in another EU state comes into force for new claimants immediately and for all claimants on Jan. 1, 2020. The system will let governments index the level of payments made for children living in another member state to the cost of living there and the level of child benefits there.
EURO INS AND OUTS
“The draft stressed the need for a “level playing field” in financial and banking regulation. It gives Britain the right to supervise financial institutions and markets to preserve financial stability. This is “without prejudice” to the existing powers of the European Union to act to protect financial stability.”
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That’s it? Yes, according to Reuters the all-knowing, all-seeing.
Note the phrasing: (the Agreement “Gives Britain the right”). The EU giveth and the EU taketh away, blessed be the name of the EU. The Agreement is largely about income redistributions. And anyone who thinks anything will be “enshrined” in future EU treaty agreements is delusional.
“An ever closer union” may also describe a rape, I suppose.
I’d be might ticked off if I was another country looking on at the special deals for Britain. Regardless, with the silent invasion occurring with the full support of the EUe, why would anyone want to stay in the EU?