![]() ![]() Is a voting booth not digital enough for the generation of digital natives? Should we seriously consider making democratic decisions online? Please, no. Why can't we be this engaged on Election Day? Imagine how differently the referendum would have turned out if this young Brit would have raised 1.9 million more votes for his own country's EU membership. By the end he had only raised a thousandth of the money needed, but even that amounted to 1.9 million euros. Only a year ago, when Greece was almost facing withdrawal from the EU due to its sovereign debt crisis, a young Brit organized a crowd funding-campaign. It is sad because young people can be very innovative when it comes to engaging in politics. That comes as a shock, even if low turnout amongst young Europeans isn't really news. Though three-fourths of the young Brits did vote to remain in the EU, the majority of those younger than 24 years old did not vote at all. "It's your own fault," the elders retort, "if only one third of you youngsters shows up at the polling stations." "You're withholding these privileges from us," young Brits accuse their elders because most of the latter voted for leaving the EU. They were the first ones to benefit from the European peace project, the freedom of movement and the free education. Generations divided in the United KingdomĮspecially young people feel disappointed and betrayed – by the generation of their parents and grandparents. Even though there are online protests mobilizing against the Brexit: hashtags, initiatives, even a petition demanding a second referendum. But besides that, nobody seems to cry even symbolically for the EU. Scrolling through my friend list I only detected a European flag twice: In the specific picture one of the twelve stars was swapped for a tear. Their solidarity doesn't seem to go this far. But are they uploading the same solidarity profile picture by the hundreds? No. Understandably, I see British friends ranting in social networks about the outcome of the recent referendum. But without the EU it would not have been that easy for me to study in the United Kingdom only a few years ago. It can then negotiate with the EU from a position of strength.So far, the Brexit has not changed my life. It needs to abandon the planned rise in corporation tax and engage dynamically in all possible free trade agreements around the world. But it is potentially sabotaging this progress by raising business taxes and by only weakly pursuing the free trade agenda. ![]() By bringing in Brexit, the Government has opened up the prospects of big progress via liberalised regulation and full integration into the world economy. It is the long-term progress of the economy that matters. Brexit has been done with good long-term gains in sight but the follow-through has been poor. The Government is making unforced errors. If we had a wide set of FTAs in place with non-EU countries, then trade here would be governed by world prices and EU tariffs would not affect us.īut until that happens our trade is governed by EU prices, since we are still integrated into the large EU market, with non-EU trade restricted- which keeps us vulnerable to EU policies. This is plainly a serious political problem in terms of NI politics and is leading to proposals for abandoning the Protocol, which in turn could cause the destruction of the Cooperation and Trade Agreement with the EU - in effect a return to the 'no deal' scenario in which tariffs would occur on UK-EU trade. ![]() However, the EU refuses to implement it sufficiently to eliminate the current border problems. The biggest current trade problem of Brexit is in Northern Ireland, where the EU is unwilling to cooperate in easing the problems at the UK-EU border with Norhern Ireland under the NI Protocol.Ī "green lane" of minimal checking for these goods should be easily implementable. As FTAs widen to manufacturing countries, notably those in the CPTPP of SE Asia, it is vital that this protectionist approach is not repeated.Ī big gain from free trade is also the productivity increase flowing from more competition in manufacturing - a highly competitive sector, as exemplified by names like Rolls Royce, Dyson, JCB, and BAE. ![]()
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