My initial reaction to the results of the Referendum

My brief statement prepared yesterday immediately upon hearing the results.

I went to bed early on Thursday to make sure that I could watch the coverage of the results towards the ‘business end’ of the count. At 4am I woke up, and upon looking at my phone, headed to the sitting room to watch the coverage on BBC News. Slowly but surely with a Lagavullin in my hand the ‘remain’ camp were not making any inroads into the ‘leave’ advantage.
Continue reading “My initial reaction to the results of the Referendum”

This is Greenland 1985

Greenland was part of the European Communities’ territory from Denmark’s accession in 1973 through to Greenland’s withdrawal in 1985.

One of the lesser-known facts about the Referendum on continuing membership of the European Union is that a UK withdrawal would not be the first time that a territory has left what we now know as the European Union. The scale and interconnectedness of a British withdrawal would indeed be a far more seismic event than the previous withdrawals of Algeria (upon seceding from France in 1962, it left then very much embryonic European Economic Community), Greenland (which was part of the European Communities’ territory from Denmark’s accession in 1973 through to Greenland’s withdrawal in 1985) following a referendum in the wake of a dispute over fisheries, and most recently, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin that both seceded from Guadelope (itself a Département Outre-Mer (overseas département of France)) back in 2007, and ceased to be an Outer Most Region (OMR) of the EU.

Martin Wolf – busting the scare tactics

UK Membership of the European Union is likened to being akin to shovelling crisp fifty pound notes into the furnace in Brussels every week.

A piece by Martin Wolf in the Irish Times recently came to my attention – not least because it takes ten very common perceptions being quoted about leaving the EU, and debunks them. Continue reading “Martin Wolf – busting the scare tactics”

How realistic is the two-year period for negotiating a Brexit? And what does Article 50 of the EU Treaty say?

Having touched upon the issue of Article 50 of the European Treaty and how it offers a two-year transitional period, I have, when speaking to a couple of media enquiries, emphasised that it is not this period that will be the most difficult for Expats living abroad, but what comes after the expiry of the transition period. The complexity of the Brexit is something that seems to have not been assessed particularly by those championing the advantages of leaving the EU. Continue reading “How realistic is the two-year period for negotiating a Brexit? And what does Article 50 of the EU Treaty say?”

One month gone – three to go until the referendum…

Amazingly a month has flown by since the date of the referendum being set for 23rd June. Since then, the topic has become one of the central focuses of my reading – particularly in light of the fact that I have been trying to mug up about the impact of it and to be better informed to in turn place myself in a position to be able to inform others. I’ve had requests from journalists requesting interviews and asking for my 2 pence / 3 Eurocents worth, and have answered all sorts of questions about Expat life. Continue reading “One month gone – three to go until the referendum…”