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Britain is, and was, deluded about its negotiating power with the EU

blogs.lse.ac.uk

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Re: Britain is, and was, deluded about its negotiating power with the EU

#11

Post by tzahola »

sz4kerto wrote: post #8
marze wrote: post #3

Why can’t the U.K. just leave? Say we are gone, we are not giving you any money, and unilaterally state a position on trade terms? I realize this may sound naive, but I’m just curious.

Because _everything_ that happens between countries (and between the UK an the EU) is driven by treaties and agreements. Simple example: if UK leaves without agreements and treaties then there can be no flights from the UK to the EU. This sounds crazy but we have tens of thousands of bilateral agreements that drive even the most fundamental things, and they can be (and are) affected by e.g. the EU membership. Or UK c…

Buy a Jaguar then ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Re: Britain is, and was, deluded about its negotiating power with the EU

#12

Post by Dayshine »

marze wrote: post #3

Why can’t the U.K. just leave? Say we are gone, we are not giving you any money, and unilaterally state a position on trade terms? I realize this may sound naive, but I’m just curious.

For the same reason your friends will refuse to go to dinner with you if you skip on the bill.

There are literally hundreds of collaborations between UK organisations and EU organisations. If we just stop our promised contributions to all of them they're not going to trust us again.

Re: Britain is, and was, deluded about its negotiating power with the EU

#13

Post by gaius »

Scorponok wrote: post #5
marze wrote: post #3

Why can’t the U.K. just leave? Say we are gone, we are not giving you any money, and unilaterally state a position on trade terms? I realize this may sound naive, but I’m just curious.

Because the EU could then reject those terms and not having a trade deal would be vastly more damaging to the UK than the EU.

No it can't - it's as bound by Article 50 as the UK is.

Re: Britain is, and was, deluded about its negotiating power with the EU

#14

Post by Zhyl »

selectodude wrote: post #4
marze wrote: post #3

Why can’t the U.K. just leave? Say we are gone, we are not giving you any money, and unilaterally state a position on trade terms? I realize this may sound naive, but I’m just curious.

The negotiations are mostly the UK trying to maintain some of the trade and immigration agreements they had while in the EU. They're welcome to just go "fuck you" and leave, but they will be absolutely destroyed by doing so.

In the current parlance, this is called the 'No Deal'.

Re: Britain is, and was, deluded about its negotiating power with the EU

#15

Post by interdrift »

marze wrote: post #3

Why can’t the U.K. just leave? Say we are gone, we are not giving you any money, and unilaterally state a position on trade terms? I realize this may sound naive, but I’m just curious.

1. UK has obligations to the EU for the 2020 (already have deals & contracts), other than that they're free to leave. Of course you can just leave and end up with a chaotic situation where nobody knows how trading works, there are tariffs.

Opinion : UK is going toward vassal state status to the EU by not having a say but still having to follow their rules.

Re: Britain is, and was, deluded about its negotiating power with the EU

#16

Post by neaden »

marze wrote: post #3

Why can’t the U.K. just leave? Say we are gone, we are not giving you any money, and unilaterally state a position on trade terms? I realize this may sound naive, but I’m just curious.

Because the EU will say no and Britain will be screwed. It wouldn't be great for the EU either, but it would hurt them a lot less.

Re: Britain is, and was, deluded about its negotiating power with the EU

#17

Post by gaius »

Dayshine wrote: post #12
marze wrote: post #3

Why can’t the U.K. just leave? Say we are gone, we are not giving you any money, and unilaterally state a position on trade terms? I realize this may sound naive, but I’m just curious.

For the same reason your friends will refuse to go to dinner with you if you skip on the bill. There are literally hundreds of collaborations between UK organisations and EU organisations. If we just stop our promised contributions to all of them they're not going to trust us again.

For the same reason your friends will refuse to go to dinner with you if you skip on the bill.

What about if you refuse to split the bill for the next dinner, to which you aren't invited?

Re: Britain is, and was, deluded about its negotiating power with the EU

#18

Post by interdrift »

gaius wrote: post #9
marze wrote: post #3

Why can’t the U.K. just leave? Say we are gone, we are not giving you any money, and unilaterally state a position on trade terms? I realize this may sound naive, but I’m just curious.

Article 50 specifies exactly what will happen: WTO rules will apply. I think most people now are assuming WTO and considering anything else to be a bonus.

WTO deals can take years to negotiate. The U.K's land of heaven is lobbying in Brussels so they can get a fair to everyone deal. As my British friends say, can't have your cake and eat it.

Re: Britain is, and was, deluded about its negotiating power with the EU

#19

Post by jballanc »

marze wrote: post #3

Why can’t the U.K. just leave? Say we are gone, we are not giving you any money, and unilaterally state a position on trade terms? I realize this may sound naive, but I’m just curious.

Because the U.K. is not self-sufficient. Actually, I'm fairly certain that no country in today's world is self-sufficient. That means that for people to get by, day-to-day, the U.K. will need to import "stuff". If they were to simply up-and-leave the EU, chances are that the EU would retaliate by:

* closing borders with the U.K.

* embargoing or imposing severe tariffs on U.K. exports

* raise prices on U.K. imports to cover the monies not paid by the U.K.

So the U.K.'s choices are to:

* pay, in effect, what they owe (in the forms of tariffs and penalties) with zero bargaining position

* find enough other countries to trade with (who are willing to also thumb their nose at the EU) to make up for the goods and services they had been getting from the EU

* negotiate a clean exit

Re: Britain is, and was, deluded about its negotiating power with the EU

#20

Post by 1undo »

marze wrote: post #3

Why can’t the U.K. just leave? Say we are gone, we are not giving you any money, and unilaterally state a position on trade terms? I realize this may sound naive, but I’m just curious.

The European Union wants to maintain centralized power. A Country like the UK leaving weakens their authority. Meanwhile the uk wants to remain sovereign, but doesn't want to lose the benefits of the EU. Its essentially a power play. Freedom is the better choice imo
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