January 31, 2020

Tonight, January 31, at midnight Central European Time (6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in the United States), the United Kingdom will officially withdraw from the European Union (EU). The withdrawal has been termed Brexit, a combination of the words British and exit. British voters approved Brexit in a controversial referendum (public vote) in June 2016. Brexit was originally scheduled for 2019, but difficult negotiations delayed the withdrawal. The United Kingdom was a founding member of the EU in 1993.

A taxi driver waves a Union Jack flag in London after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union on June 23, 2016. Credit: © Stefan Rousseau, PA Wire/AP Photo

Negotiations on the United Kingdom’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU will begin in March 2020, and during this transition period—set to expire at the end of the year—the United Kingdom will remain in the EU single market and customs union. Thus, many of the changes implemented by Brexit will not be immediately felt by British and European citizens.

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seen here campaigning for Brexit as a member of Parliament in 2016. Credit: © Christopher Furlong, Getty Images

The EU is an economic and political partnership among European countries. It grew out of economic cooperation that began among Western European countries in the early 1950′s. These countries eventually cooperated in economic affairs as members of the European Community (EC). The United Kingdom joined the EC in 1973, becoming part of the EU with its creation in 1993. The EU member countries formed a single economic market without internal barriers to trade, labor, and investment.

The United Kingdom has benefited in many ways from EU membership, including in its economy and employment, access to food and medical supplies, global influence, and international security and transportation. Membership also enabled British citizens to live and work freely in other EU member countries, without the need for foreign work visas or other restrictions.

Some U.K. citizens, however, resisted the country’s membership in the European Union from the beginning. Some of them felt that membership weakened British sovereignty (self-rule) and the so-called “nation-state”—the country’s common descent, language, history, and culture. Other people rejected the United Kingdom’s economic responsibilities within the union, which were greater than those of many other member nations. Still others objected to the increased numbers of people from other EU countries coming to live and work in the United Kingdom.

June 24, 2016

On June 24, 2016, a taxi driver waves the Union Jack in Westminster, London, after British voters narrowly chose to leave the European Union in the historic “Brexit” referendum.
Credit: © Stefan Rousseau, PA Wire/AP Photo

Yesterday, June 23, British voters went to the polls to decide whether the United Kingdom (UK) should remain in the European Union (EU)—a contentious referendum nicknamed “Brexit” (British exit). By a 51.9 to 48.1 percent margin, voters narrowly chose to “leave,” sending shock waves throughout the UK as well as the rest of the world. Most business and world leaders had backed and expected a “remain” victory, and opinion polls too had predicted a narrow “remain” majority. Global economic markets and currencies dropped sharply upon the news, and British Prime Minister David Cameron, a strong “remain” backer, announced he would resign from office in the coming months. More than 33 million people voted in the Brexit referendum, a turnout of 72.2 percent.

The UK government is not bound by the “leave” vote, but politicians will no doubt respect its result. The process to leave the EU could take years, but the UK’s place in the partnership is immediately jeopardized. The UK could be excluded from votes on long-lasting matters and other topics of importance (such as its own Brexit). The European Parliament will hold an emergency session next week to discuss the vote’s result.

The consequences of the “leave” vote—beyond removing the UK from the EU—are widespread, lengthy, and somewhat uncertain. Cameron’s fall could be followed by many others, including that of Labour Party leader and fellow “remain” backer Jeremy Corbyn. The Brexit vote could also propel one of its most vocal supporters, former London Mayor Boris Johnson, into the vacancy soon to be left by Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party and possibly as prime minster as well. Other political ramifications could be the dissolution of the United Kingdom itself, as Northern Ireland and Scotland, who both voted against the Brexit, will be forced out of the EU against their will. Scotland in particular seems likely to revisit an independence referendum that was voted down less than two years ago. The vote also weakens the EU (the UK is the third largest contributor to the EU budget), and gives hope and strength to budding exit movements in other parts of Europe. Economically, time will determine how severe and long-lasting the currency and market crash will turn out to be. The Brexit vote also created panic and uncertainty among the hundreds of thousands of British citizens living and working in other parts of the EU.

To drum up support from right-wing British parties (which had long called for an EU exit), Prime Minister Cameron promised a future “in/out” EU referendum in 2013. The move helped Conservatives win parliamentary elections in 2015, but many party members then went against Cameron, who did not support a so-called Brexit. A “remain” victory—which at first seemed a near certainty—then fell into doubt. Right-wing groups and many others joined the “leave” camp. They based their support for an EU withdrawal on hopes of cutting off immigration, extricating the nation from the EU’s perceived heavy-handed bureaucracy, and “taking back control” of the UK’s place in the world. They also blamed Europe—the perceived gateway for migrants and refugees from elsewhere in the world—for such domestic problems as unemployment, stagnant wage growth, and high home prices. “Remain” voters supported the generally more favorable diplomatic, economic, logistical, political, and social conditions of EU membership.

By design and negotiation, the UK has been an unusual EU member since the partnership began in 1993. Most obviously, the UK did not join the Economic and Monetary Union when it was formed in 1999—meaning the British decided not to use the euro single currency (as do most EU members)—choosing instead to retain the pound sterling. Also, the UK is not part of the Schengen zone of passport-free travel (which includes the rest of the EU except Ireland). And, despite trailing only France and Germany in contributions to the EU budget, the amount the UK contributes as a percentage of its gross national income is the least of all EU member states.

September 3, 2015

Over the past several years, the European Union (EU) has been faced with a growing problem—a trickle of migrants and refugees has become a flood of people trying to gain entry to EU nations. This week, the problem became acute in Budapest, Hungary.

Refugees storm a train at the Keleti train station in Budapest, Hungary, on September 3. After two days of blocking entrance to the station, Hungarian police began allowing refugees in again. (Credit: © Laszlo Balogh, Reuters/Landov)

According to the United Nations (UN), migrants are people seeking to live in a new country for economic reasons. They are from poor nations and believe they will have a better standard of living in a wealthier nation. Refugees are people fleeing to a new country because of dangerous conditions in their own nation. Such conditions may include war; famine; or persecution based on religion, nationality, or political or other beliefs.

Many migrants, often from African nations, arrive by sea in dangerous ships not fit to use as transportation. Greece and Italy have been frequent destinations for migrants, and both southern coastal nations have been hard-pressed to mount rescues for those who encounter difficulties on their journey. In 2015 alone, more than 2,000 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean Sea in an attempt to reach Europe.

Refugees from Syria and other war-torn regions of the Middle East also take a dangerous sea journey. After their arrival in Greece, they tend to travel overland to Macedonia, through Serbia and Hungary, hoping to arrive in Germany. Thus far in 2015, nearly 500,000 people have entered Europe hoping to find a new home. It is the greatest movement of refugees in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).

On Tuesday, September 1, the lives of many mostly Syrian refugees became even harder when the nation of Hungary closed its train station in Budapest and refused to allow refugees to board trains for their final destination countries of Austria and Germany. The government of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban cited EU rules that state that refugees must be issued documents upon their arrival in Europe by the nation in which they landed. Orban claimed all refugees must be documented by Hungary before traveling on to Germany.

The scene in and outside the Keleti train station in Budapest was one of chaos. For the first two days, the train station was closed to refugees. Some 2,000 refugees slept outside the train station with no shelter or toilets. As of this morning, the station was reopened to the Syrians, although they are still not allowed to travel on trains out of Budapest. Even with the station as a shelter, services for many people are not available from the Hungarian government.

July 16, 2015

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during a session of parliament on the evening of July 15, 2015. Credit: © Aris Messinis, AFP/Getty Images

Late last night, Greek lawmakers voted to accept austerity measures proposed by the European Union (EU) in return for a financial bailout of 86 billion euros ($94 billion). No one had been sure how the vote late on Wednesday would go. Greek legislators were asked to choose between two difficult options. On the one hand, they could choose a reform package of austerity measures similar to those that, over the last five years, had inflicted great hardship on Greece and its people and to which 60 percent of the Greek people had voted “no” just last week. The other choice led to leaving the eurozone and probably the EU, reinstating its old currency (the drachma), and the upheaval of financial collapse.

Greek Prime Minister Alex Tsipras came to power on Jan. 26, 2015, as the leader of Syriza, an anti-austerity party. After five years of EU-mandated austerity, the Greek government still owed a large amount in national debt and the Greek economy had shrunk by 25 percent. On July 5, the Greek people had voted against a nearly identical bailout package in a national referendum. Tsipras had pushed hard for debt reduction for Greece as part of the bailout, but stronger members of the EU, especially Germany, were totally opposed. Tsipras stated that although he strongly disagreed with the terms of the final EU bailout deal, he still was asking the Greek parliament to vote in favor of it. The bill passed, but some 60 members voted against it, including 32 from Tsipras’s own party, splitting the unity of Syriza.

The bailout package must garner parliamentary approval by all of the eurozone countries. Until this bailout can be finalized, the EU is preparing a bridge fund of 7 billion euros to reopen Greece’s banks and temporarily prop up its economy.

A report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), released on Tuesday, July 14, stated that debt reduction needed to be a part of the bailout given to Greece in order for the country to have any hope of recovering from its economic woes. The IMF was quoted in the report as saying, “Greece will need debt relief far beyond what eurozone partners have been prepared to consider due to the devastation of its economy and banks in the last two weeks.” Because the IMF is a major creditor for Greece, perhaps there will be some additional negotiation concerning this bailout, Greece’s third in five years.

Other Behind the headline articles: 

• EU agrees to bailout terms for Greece (July 2015)
• Greece Votes Oxi! (July 2015) 
• Greece Closes Banks, as Economic Crisis Escalates (June 2015)
• Greece Gets a Reprieve (February 2015) 

July 6, 2015

Campaign signs urge Greeks to vote “no” in the July 5 referendum. Credit: © Conejota/Shutterstock

In a surprising turn of events in the Greek debt crisis, Greek citizens on Sunday, July 5, overwhelmingly voted “no.” (Oxi, pronounced OH hee, is the  Greek word for no.) Experts expected the vote to be close; it was not. Some 60 percent of the voters chose, well, it’s not certain what “no” meant. The exact policy to which they voted “no” is not clear to anyone. Last Friday, after fruitless negotiations with European Union (EU) officials on remedies to the Greek crisis, Greek Prime Minister Alex Tsipras pulled out of the negotiations. Tsipras’s position is that the austerity measures the EU required for another loan to the Greek government are actually causing Greece to lose ground on paying off its debt. Because the Greek economy shrank by 25 percent over the last five years of ongoing financing and demands for fiscal cuts by the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Greece actually owes a larger ratio of debt to its gross domestic product (GDP) than it initially did. (In 2010, the ratio of Greek debt to GDP was around 150 percent. In 2014, that figure had risen to around 175 percent.) The amount of debt Greece owes is thought by Tsipras and his Syriza government to be unsustainable (meaning it could never realistically be paid back). Greek government representatives want the amount of debt owed to be reduced. Other nations in the EU, however, feel they are using money from their taxpayers to finance Greek extravagance.

Tsipras called for the Greek people to vote on the terms of the EU’s bailout offer. Before the people of Greece could vote, however, the creditors took the bailout off the table. The Greek referendum went ahead anyway, with Tsipras saying that a vote of “no” would strengthen his hand in future negotiating.

During the week before the referendum, Greek banks were closed (later in the week reopening only for pensioners), and Greek citizens (except for pensioners) were under currency restrictions that allowed only 60 euros (about $67) per day to be withdrawn per person. Experts predict Greece will run out of currency sometime this week. In addition, campaign advertisements from the “yes” side, said to have been placed by Greek oligarchs, painted a bleak, and even frightening vision of what was in store for the Greek people if they voted “no,” threatening them with a country without gasoline and medicine. Some experts on Greece felt the pressure to vote “yes” may have backfired, angering the Greek people instead of encouraging them in a “yes” vote.

Pensioners congregate outside a National Bank branch ATM in Thessaloniki on July 1. Greek banks re-opened for pensioners only on July 1, allowing them to cash up to 120 euros. Credit: © Ververidis Vasilis, Shutterstock

Greece has a habit of saying “no!” On October 28 of each year, Greece celebrates a national holiday, Oxi Day, commemorating that date in 1940. During World War II (1939-1945),  Italian fascist Benito Mussolini requested that his troops be allowed to enter Greece to occupy it, promising there would be no killing of Greek citizens. Greek dictator Joannes Metaxas replied, “oxi.” Greece suffered a hard war during World War II, occupied by Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria until 1944.

After this most recent no in 2015, several European leaders have called for an immediate resumption of talks with Greek officials in an attempt to work out the financial problems and keep Greece in the eurozone, or at least in the EU.

Other World Book articles: 

• Greece (1940-a Back in time article)
• Greek Debt Crisis Becomes More Acute (Behind the headlines, February 29, 2015)
• Greece Closes Banks, as Debt Crisis Escalates (Behind the headlines, June 29, 2015)

February 26, 2015

The crisis surrounding Greek debt eased this week. Yesterday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a test ballot among MP’s (members of parliament) in her party and in coalition with her party to see if the proposed four-month extension on financial aid to Greece would pass in the German parliament. Because Germany is a financial powerhouse in the European Union (EU), its approval is necessary for the planned aid to go forward. Merkel’s center-right coalition, made up of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), voted in favor of the aid package to Greece by 311 to 22.

The Greek economy is important to more than just Greece and its citizens. Greece is a member of the European Union and belongs to the eurozone—that is, it is one of 19 EU countries that use the euro as their currency. Greece cannot claim it is bankrupt and renege on its debt agreements while it remains in the EU. The EU has a central bank, the ECB, that is expected to prevent any member nation from defaulting on its obligations. To default, Greece would have to leave the European Union and the eurozone. The effect on the global economy of such a move as Greece’s default on its creditors and its return to its old currency, the drachma, would be worrying enough. But were Greece to leave the EU, it would call the entire enterprise of European unification and a shared currency into question.

Alex Tsipras, leader of the anti-austerity party Syriza, speaks to supporters after his party won the parliamentary elections in Greece on Jan. 25, 2015. (Credit: AP Photo)

In order to obtain an agreement for financing, the new government of Greece, swept into power on anti-austerity sentiment in a nation that has spent the last five years in recession, agreed to certain conditions. Some of the conditions reflect the deep divisions between Germany, the creditor nation, and Greece, the debtor nation. Germany has loaned billions of euros to Greece via the EU over the past five years, and it wants Greece to keep its agreement to pay that money back. Greece has spent five years living under the austerity plan of the European Union; it has had a shrinking economy for six years; and it currently has an unemployment rate of nearly 26 percent. When the government of Greece, for example, pledges to increase housing and medical care for the poor without increasing public spending, it seems as if those two goals will be difficult to reconcile. Some experts feel the promises Greece made this week to obtain a four-month loan extension will be impossible to keep.

Other World Book articles:

• Crisis in the Eurozone (2010-a Special report)
• Greece (2012-a Back in Time article)

January 26, 2015

Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the Greek party Syriza, today formed a coalition government and was sworn in as prime minister. Tsipras has vowed to renegotiate the amount of the nation’s debt and to put an end to austerity measures—tax increases and limits on government spending—that were imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. These austerity measures were placed on the Greek government in return for bailout money from the European Union—240 billion euros ($244 billion).

Alex Tsipras, leader of the anti-austerity party Syriza, speaks to supporters after the parliamentary elections in Greece on Jan. 25, 2015. Credit: AP Photo

In yesterday’s parliamentary elections, Syriza won at least 149 of 300 seats, nearly an outright majority. The left-wing party then formed a coalition government with the right-wing Independent Greeks party to take a majority in parliament.

EU austerity measures have led to a more balanced budget of government spending to revenue for Greece, but at the cost of a contracting economy. The Greek economy has been in recession for the last five years, its unemployment rate has soared to nearly 30 percent, and wages in Greece have fallen sharply. This has left Greece in conundrum. After five years of austerity, its debt has actually increased when considered as a ratio of debt to gross domestic product (GDP—the amount of goods and services in a nation’s economy in a given year). In 2010, the Greek debt was 130 percent of its GDP. It is now close to 170 percent.

After five years of economic pain, Greece is less able to pay its creditors than it was in 2010. Greek voters are hoping Tsipras can lead their nation to better times.

July 29, 2014

The European Union today adopted new economic sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine. The latest sanctions are designed to target Russia’s all-important oil sector as well as limit Russian access to Western defense equipment and sensitive technologies. EU banks are also likely to restrict Russian access to European capital, that is, bar Russia’s biggest state-owned banks from selling stock or long-term debt on European markets.

This latest round of EU sanctions was made in response to the downing of flight Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine on July 17, which resulted in the deaths of all 298 passengers and crew members. The United States and its European allies have declared that Russian-backed separatist rebels almost certainly shot the plane down with a Russian surface-to-air missile. Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to deny charges that Russia is supplying heavy weapons to the separatist rebels.

Heavy fighting between the Ukrainian army and separatist rebels near the city of Donetsk has prevented an international team from investigating the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17, 2014. (World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

Intense fighting between the rebels and the Ukrainian military in eastern Ukraine has kept an international team of investigators from gaining access to the crash site. United States Secretary of State John Kerry said this morning that there has been “no shred of evidence” that Putin is willing to help end the deadly conflict between the Ukraine separatists and the Ukrainian government and warned that further U.S. sanctions are being contemplated in Washington, D.C.

For additional information on the Ukrainian crisis, search Ukraine articles under Archived Stories.

Additional World Book articles:

• Russia in the Post-Soviet World (a special report)
• Ukraine 2013 (a Back in Time article)

May 29, 2014

Leaders of the 28-member nations of the European Union (EU) met in Brussels this week in response to recent European Parliament elections that gave a boost to a number of Eurosceptic (anti-EU) parties. Both the president of France and the prime minister of the United Kingdom called for major EU reforms. French President Francois Hollande warned Europe to “pay attention” to the election results in France, where his Socialist party lost to the far-right National Front. The National Front—which some have called a neo-Nazi party—collected fully 24.95 percent of the vote, winning a nationwide election for the first time. France’s Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls characterized the results as “more than a warning. It is a shock, an earthquake.”

(© Stephen Hird, Reuters)

French President Francois Hollande (above) and British Prime Minister David Cameron (right) both called for EU reforms in the face of strong showings by far-right parties in European elections (© Balint Porneczi, Bloomberg/Getty Images).

Populist and far-right parties gained ground across the EU, including in Austria, Denmark, Greece, and the United Kingdom. In Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative party lost to the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). UKIP campaigned to slash the EU’s powers and return decision-making to individual nations. In Greece, Golden Dawn, an openly neo-Nazi organization, also picked up seats.

Despite the unprecedented gains made by such extremist parties, the pro-EU bloc retains a safe majority in the parliament. Nevertheless, the current president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, noted: “This is a bad day for the European Union when the party [the National Front] with such an openly racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic program gets 25 or 24 percent of the vote in France. . . . The reasons behind such a vote for a party like this party in France is not that people are hard-core extremists. . . .They are disappointed. They have lost trust and hope [in the EU].” International affairs experts note that much of the lost trust and hope stems from years of recession and the necessity of granting massive financial bailouts to various eurozone countries to keep them from defaulting on their national debts. (The eurozone consists of the 18 EU nations that adopted the euro, the common European currency.)

Additional World Book articles:

• Crisis in the Eurozone (a special report)
• Eurozone Crisis: No End in Sight (a special report)

March 21, 2014

Leaders of the European Union (EU) and Ukraine signed an agreement today designed to give the Ukraine’s interim leadership under Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk economic and political support. European Union President Herman Van Rompuy stated that the accord “recognizes the aspirations of the people of Ukraine to live in a country governed by values, by democracy and the rule of law.” Calling it a “historic day,” Prime Minister Yatsenyuk declared, “We want to be a part of the big European family and this is the first tremendous step in order to achieve for Ukraine its ultimate goal, as a full-fledged member.” Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s abandonment of an EU trade agreement in November to move closer to Russia triggered massive protests that brought down his government and ultimately resulted in Russia’s seizure of Crimea.

Both Yatsenyuk and Rompuy noted that “the best way to contain Russia is to impose real economic leverage.” To that end, EU leaders have scheduled meetings to forge ways to reduce their energy dependence on Russia. Natural gas and oil from Russia accounted for at least 33 percent of total EU imports in 2010.

International affairs experts point out that natural gas and oil profits fuel Russia’s economy and, thus, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s power on the world stage. They describe today’s agreement as a show of support following the Crimean annexation earlier this week.

Yesterday, President Barack Obama of the United States announced further sanctions against prominent Russians, many of whom are close associates of President Putin. President Obama also revealed that he has signed an executive order that allows the United States “to impose sanctions on key sectors of the Russian economy.” He also urged Congress to pass an aid package to support the Ukraine’s tottering economy.

In Moscow, President Putin signed legislation into law formally absorbing Crimea into Russia. Russia sent troops into Crimea in late February, seizing control from Ukraine on the pretext that the region’s Russian-speaking majority needed protection from the next government in Kiev.

For additional information on the Ukrainian revolution, search Ukraine articles under Archived Stories.

Additional World Book article:

• Russia in the Post-Soviet World (a special report)