worst of all worlds.
Without Brexit, they could have maintained their unique status as an EU member, but a non-member of the EZ and Schengen. Now, if they want to continue to have access to the common market, they will effectively have to participate in Schengen whether they like it or not BUT they will no longer have a voice at the EU table, nor will they receive ANY EU bennies.
Switzerland is eyeing a somewhat similar fate, although it has never been an EU/EZ member. It IS part of Schengen, but a 2014 referendum here effectively repudiated Schengen's free mobility provisions and Swiss officials have been turning themselves inside-out in negotiations with the EU for some kind of exception ever since.
The Brexit vote has effectively made that exception nearly impossible because the EU is now taking a very hard-line stance on Schengen free mobility provisions. This may prove the undoing of Poland and other current EU nations who are balking at Schengen. Frankly, those nations all need the EU much more than than the EU needs them, so perhaps they will come around. But Switzerland is hamstrung by the 2014 referendum results while the others don't have a referendum result they must comply with. Switzerland will either have to redo its 2014 referendum and get a different outcome or continue to be subject to certain privilege suspensions, including isolation from major EU bennies, and ultimately lose at least some market access. But where the UK is isolated from the Continent due to its island status, Switzerland continues to hold a trump card (sorry about that expression, LOL!) because of its geographical location at the hub of several major trucking, RR, and airline routes. So we'll see. We are currently slightly worse off, but nothing like the UK will be because we were never an EU member to begin with and also have a safety net of sorts in a series of bilateral agreements made over the years. Still ....
Such utter stupidity to put this VERY important issue to a referendum WITHOUT educating the populace about ALL the implications.
Speaking to a UK expat friend who is Scottish the other evening, she mentioned that before the Scottish independence eferendum was put to the vote, there was a real effort to educate students beginning from the middle school level as to what the consequences of Scottish independence would be. By extension, the students "educated" their parents. As we all know, that referendum failed, even if narrowly. Per her account, nothing similar was done in re the Brexit vote. Following the Brexit vote, it appears that the Scottish referendum would pass today. According to her (and other sources), people are seriously discussing a "United Kingdom of Scotland and Northern Ireland" possibility under which both Scotland and NI would secede from the UK but remain part of the EU, based on the votes of their respective populations.
I wondered about that name, however. If they do secede, why not call themselves the "United Republic of Scotland and NI?" If they secede from the UK, presumably leaving the monarchy behind, why continue to call themselves a "kingdom?" :sh
But I didn't pose the question, mainly because I hadn't thought of it then. We'll be dining next week with a group mostly composed of expat Brits so it will be interesting to hear what they have to say.
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