Anti-Brexit campaigners have been warned that the UK could face severe consequences, including dealing with France’s immigration demands and adopting the euro, if it were to rejoin the European Union (EU).
Wolfgang Munchau, Director of Eurointelligence, has stated that, “even if the UK were to reapply, in, say ten years, the EU would surely not offer it the same deal it had when it left”.
He also warned that the UK would have to conform to the EU’s policies on immigration and home affairs and act as the EU’s external border on its northern shores, an issue that France would insist upon.
Furthermore, he stated that London would be unlikely to regain its status as the eurozone’s financial centre, given that Frankfurt, Paris, and Milan are becoming stronger in that regard.
Mario Draghi, the former president of the European Central Bank (ECB), reportedly challenged London’s position in this regard.
Munchau warned that the ECB could be relied upon to insist that the UK should join the euro if it were to rejoin the EU.
He highlighted that the UK did not receive opt-outs from the EU on a silver plate, as the UK blackmailed the EU into them by threatening to veto consecutive EU treaty revisions.
However, if the UK were to reapply to the EU, each of the EU’s current 27 member states would have a veto on the UK’s membership.
The warning comes as Rishi Sunak, the UK PM, is scheduled to hold talks with European leaders to address issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol, despite reservations among Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers.
It is speculated that the UK and EU could unveil a deal to address the impasse over the post-Brexit trading arrangements next week.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is scheduled to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday to finalise the agreement.
However, Sunak has stressed that “there’s more work to do” as the UK is still negotiating with the EU.
The Prime Minister is likely to push for further concessions on the oversight role of the European Court of Justice, but any compromise over the court’s jurisdiction could fail to persuade Northern Ireland unionists and Eurosceptic Conservative MPs in the European Research Group (ERG) to accept the deal.
A potential intervention by Boris Johnson raised fears of a Tory rebellion when the changes are put to a vote in Parliament. However, an ally of the former Prime Minister guided away from the prospect.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, warned that Sunak’s proposal “currently falls short of what would be acceptable” to the party, although he acknowledged that “real progress” had been made in negotiations.
The term “democratic deficit” is used by Northern Ireland unionists to describe the application of EU rules in the region without local politicians having an influence on them.
In conclusion, rejoiners hoping to see the UK back in the EU could be disappointed by the consequences. France would insist that the UK conforms to the EU’s policies on immigration and home affairs and could use the UK as an external border on its northern shores.
Furthermore, the ECB could insist that the UK adopts the euro if it were to rejoin the EU. The UK’s financial centre would be unlikely to regain its status as Frankfurt, Paris, and Milan are strong competitors. In addition, the UK would have to deal with the loss of opt-outs from the EU, as the EU’s 27 member states would have a veto on UK membership.
Story derived from this News Link -> Rejoiners warned France would use UK as immigration point if Brexit was reversed
A country wide referendum, was held for the people to decide our fate with the EU, it was decided we should leave, the PM or MP’s cannot go above the heads of its employers (the voters) and cancel the democratic vote, or they risk going down the road to a dictatorship.
Are we being driven down the back road again like Ted Heath did to the country and John Major what is is he’s after its certainly not looking after the voters that voted out .Conservative said they would give us Brexit and we are still being told what to do by them and sending millions also we are have to accept the thousands of illegals that pour into our country costing the tax payer in the excess of 7 million pounds away .That money could be better spent on the pensioners and hospital etc and are own homeless they havre shame they would sooner look after illegals than there own .
The Uk has been shamefully misled by our conservative government as Brexit has never been done. Northern Ireland is still on the EU, we have once again lost our fishing rights in our own waters and we are still kowtowing to their so called Court of Justice which is notably unjust to the UK. It is time we demand our real freedom from EU rules and expand our market beyond their stranglehold . We already import a lot of food from elsewhere . We need to get our farms back, be self sufficient in milf and cheese , lamb , beef, pork and poultry. We must expose the lies about animals causing climate change, there is no truth in them and no actual scientifically accurate facts!