I was wondering when Brexit would come up. It has already and I am pleased to confirm the Brexit reversal idea is dead and finally buried.
Not In His Lifetime
[Via Eurointelligence] Already assured of victory at today’s general election in the UK, Sir Keir Starmer has started to make manifesto pledges for beyond 2029. Yesterday he said that the UK would not rejoin the EU within his lifetime, nor would it try to become an associate member of the single market or the customs union.
We are not surprised, except that the issue came up so early. The reason to shut this down right now and as conclusively as he did is that keeping the door open for the future has policy consequences today.
To rejoin even in the medium-distant future would have required him to start closing the massive regulatory gap that has opened since Brexit almost immediately. Most of that gap was due to divergence by the EU itself. The UK did not mirror the 50 or so laws of the Green agenda. It adopted the data protection regulation – GDPR – in the last decade, and maintains its own version to this day. But the UK does not have the EU’s digital markets act, or EU regulation on AI and cryptocurrencies. Nor does have regulation on what is euphemistically called corporate social responsibility – making companies liable for human rights violations in their supply chains. For the UK to rejoin the EU even during a second term would require such a high degree of regulatory convergence that it would dominate all other policy areas.
We see another reason in the EU’s Luddite tendency, its attachment to 20th century technologies and corporatism. We always felt that the undoubtedly large economic gains from goods trade integration need to be set against the opportunity cost of the EU’s failure to partake in the 21st century digital economy. The single market, as it is constituted today, is very much a product of 20th century product-focused regulatory thinking.
The Right Decision
Who in their right mind wants to adopt the EU’s green agenda? The EU’s nannycrat legislation on corporate social responsibility? On digital rights? On cryptocurrencies? On anything the EU does?
Those nostalgic for the EU membership need to address those questions.
Congratulations to Boris Johnson for getting Brexit done. Few believed he would.
His problem was not knowing what to do with Brexit once it happened.
Simultaneous Burial
It’s always a mistake to let EU nannycrats set your policy. That’s why Brexit was smart policy even if takes a while to prove that.
Not only did Starmer finally bury EU membership (the Wicked Witch of the East), he buried an even worse customs union idea (the Wicked Witch of the West) in a simultaneous burial.
Congratulations!
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