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Brexit
Original poster

Can we rejoin the EU at a later date?

58 replies

MaitlandGirl · 08/12/2020 08:44

Apologies if this has been covered before but is there any chance the UK will be able to rejoin the EU at some point in the future or is it a case of after Jan 1st that's it - door locked, no chance of it ever being opened again?

I've been chatting with the kids about this and don't know if there's any possibility of a new govt fixing things.

OP posts:
Squiffany · 08/12/2020 23:17

I think the EU will break up over the next ten years.

Eng123 · 08/12/2020 23:46

The EU will weather Brexit far better than the UK. 60% of UK trade is with the EU, about 20% with other countries exercising trade agreements. The UK on the other hand represents about 16% of eu trade, a large slice but cushioned 27ways!

PurplePansy05 · 08/12/2020 23:49

Yes, if we meet the joining criteria.

jj90914 · 09/12/2020 05:34

Yes, we can apply. We wouldn’t have the amazing preferential terms that we had last time - we really had a good deal, but that’s been flushed down the toilet now.

What would need to happen diplomatically to regain any influence within the EU, I don’t know. A lot of networking and very very hard work and cooperation I think.

But, domestically, what would need to happen? I expect another referendum, unless the Brexit supporters have died off and the country is in the hands of the next generation.

Maybe that sounds callous, but the tendency to hate the EU skews heavily toward the older generations...

Peregrina · 09/12/2020 08:37

Yes, I think too, another generation with a different outlook needs to come to power.

bellinisurge · 09/12/2020 09:40

@Squiffany

I think the EU will break up over the next ten years.
Based on what?
Original poster
MaitlandGirl · 09/12/2020 09:51

Thanks everyone. We’re not directly affected by the withdrawal (we live in Australia) but the removal of FoM is a massive issue for us.

OP posts:
DGRossetti · 09/12/2020 10:27

Hitchens razor applies here.

As everywhere.

It's a squirrel killer.

PersonaNonGarter · 09/12/2020 10:34

Yes, OP, the UK could apply in future. But that is not likely to happen in the next generation - or thereafter.

The EU has huge worrying problems that the pandemic has exacerbated. It has no bandwidth for dealing with the UK - why should it? - and by the time the EU is out the other side of the financial crisis that’s about to hit it, who knows what it will look like. Different tho.

raskolnikova · 09/12/2020 10:38

FoM is a massive issue for me too, I hope we can rejoin the Single Market and Customs Union sooner. I don't know what would have to happen for this to be possible.

DGRossetti · 09/12/2020 10:42

FOM is gone. For at least a generation.

Sorry.

Peregrina · 09/12/2020 10:42

I can't help think that we deliberately missed the boat the first time, with our refusal to get in on the ground floor with the coal and steel organisation - because Churchill preferred the Commonwealth and the supposedly 'special' relationship with the US. So then we created EFTA - which only took us so far. So what next?

I was musing last night what would have happened if Attlee had got in in 1951 instead of Churchill. How much of the Special relationship was because Churchill's mother was American?

DGRossetti · 09/12/2020 10:47

It was and is a pretty shit "special relationship" though.

In a way it's a shame the US didn't go with German as it's official language. It's only our delusion that because we mistakenly think we share a culture we are in some way destiny bound. Nothing could be further from the truth. We still have a fucking Queen FFS.

Hyperion100 · 10/12/2020 15:23

We can probably rejoin in 20 years...without any of the opt outs we currently hold/held.

The deal we had was probably the best deal the EU had ever given.

Can we rejoin the EU at a later date?
MarieG10 · 10/12/2020 15:28

@bellinisurge

Scotland will be trying it once the inevitable happens.

Lol. Scotland would LIKE to try it if they get independence but there is NO way the EU would accept them with the state of their budget. They get massive subsidies from England due to the Barnet formula and have a deficit of nearly 10% last time I looked. Basically they are a far worse basket case than Greece so basically the EU learnt their lesson on that one.

The fiscal pain for Scotland will be massive and I for one cannot wait to watch on

DGRossetti · 10/12/2020 16:05

Scotland would LIKE to try it if they get independence but there is NO way the EU would accept them with the state of their budget

Depends how much rent they charge England for Trident.

Ifailed · 10/12/2020 16:12

We maybe allowed to join if our Chinese overlords approve.

bellinisurge · 10/12/2020 16:19

I think you'll also find that a large part of Uk fishing waters are, in fact, Scottish.
Of course it would be difficult for Scotland to join because of its economic hammering and leaching by England. Same for many countries in E Europe or the Balkans. It might take time to get back in but it would head in that direction.
After all, why can't it, like NI, have what Gove called the best of both worlds.

DGRossetti · 10/12/2020 16:30

@bellinisurge

I think you'll also find that a large part of Uk fishing waters are, in fact, Scottish. Of course it would be difficult for Scotland to join because of its economic hammering and leaching by England. Same for many countries in E Europe or the Balkans. It might take time to get back in but it would head in that direction. After all, why can't it, like NI, have what Gove called the best of both worlds.
No reason why a united Ireland and independent Scotland couldn't become a Celtic zone inside the EU.

Funnily enough, Scotland and Ireland have a much longer history of trading with Europe than England and Wales who were subjugated by the Romans, rather than be allowed their independence.

Guess even back then, you couldn't trust the English ...

(Speaking of Roman Britain, I'm fascinated to read a recent find of a 5th century mosaic in England. That is laid after the Romans fucked off. edition.cnn.com/style/article/roman-mosaic-chedworth-britain-scli-intl-gbr-scn/index.html - once again, what "history" we thought we knew needs revising.)

MarieG10 · 10/12/2020 17:13

I think it is now political suicide for any political party to adopt a policy of either rejoining the EU or having a vote on it.

bellinisurge · 10/12/2020 17:16

Any English political party maybe. Spoiler alert in advance of the future break up of the UK - the UK is not just England

DioneTheDiabolist · 10/12/2020 17:22

Yes we can and probably will. However we will have to adopt the Euro and will not have the veto we had previously.

I very much doubt the EU will collapse anytime soon as all over the world small countries are joining together in order to compete with and protect themselves against emerging super states with populations of 1 billion.

PicsInRed · 10/12/2020 18:04

@MaitlandGirl

Thanks everyone. We’re not directly affected by the withdrawal (we live in Australia) but the removal of FoM is a massive issue for us.
How so, if you've chosen to live in Australia rather than the EU?
Original poster
MaitlandGirl · 10/12/2020 20:49

Because we’re all dual citizens. We intended to move to Europe this year but COVID and lockdown happened. We haven’t been able to get out of the country and now it’s too late.

OP posts:
raskolnikova · 10/12/2020 21:16

I feel your pain OP Sad

I was living in the EU, had to move back to the UK to recover after experiencing domestic violence. I always intended to go back to the EU and I still want to do it somehow. Just don't know the 'how'

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