The UK will vote either to remain or leave the European Union today. The referendum is considered the country’s most significant in half a century. No matter what the result will be, it is going to mark a significant obstacle to the EU-UK relations in the near future. Over the past month and a half in the EU study abroad program, Brexit has always been our biggest concern. We have had many opportunities to talk to different politicians at national as well as EU level on site visits and hear their perspectives on the issue. Like many of the speakers, I really hope the UK remains in the European Union. However, this is one of the most unpredictable referenda in the history of the European Union as the poll has shown an approximately equal amount of votes between “leave” and “remain”. The referendum result will not come out until 10 pm today or maybe even tomorrow morning; therefore, I would like to make some remarks based on my reading and what I have learned from site visits.

It is exceedingly difficult to say whether the UK will remain or leave the European Union. According to Financial Times database, the poll has shown almost a tie of 42 percent between “stay” votes and “leave” votes since January this year, and around 15 percent of votes is still undecided. Just a week before the referendum, polls showed an enormous shift of 10 percent towards Brexit. As reported by the Ipsos MORI poll for the Evening Standard newspaper, an approximate 53 percent of votes decided to leave, and the rest is going for remain. The reason behind such a significant shift exactly one week before the referendum was that the Remain campaign is losing support from citizens on the issues of immigration and contributions to the European Union budget. Demographically, polls show older voters supporting Leave, whereas the young immensely desire to stay in the European Union.

Source : The Economist

Many people believe the UK is having a referendum because of Mr. David Cameroon’s promise under pressure from his own Conservative party. However, I find it very convincing that the reason behind it is the root of British Euroscepticism. The British still wanted to stick with the Common Wealth after seeing the reconciliation between France and Germany, which shortly led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 and the European Economic Community in 1957. Only later in the 1960s did they tried to join as they were impressed by the continent’s stronger economy. Charles de Gaulle vetoed Britain’s application to join the Common Market as he believed they showed a lack of interest in it. The British finally joined in 1973 after Charles de Gaulle was out of office. Since then, British membership has been seen as “costs and benefits”, not as an “emotional commitment.” (Beddoes) Furthermore, the British have always been dreaming of absolute national sovereignty. The former mayor of London, Boris Johnson, states that Britain does not fit in the European Union parliamentary sovereignty. The ambition to gain back control becomes even clearer when Mr. David Cameron pulled his effort to get Britain exempted from the idea of “ever closer Union” despite the fact that he wants Britain to stay in the EU.

I remember our discussion with the MEP Mr. Richard Corbett in the European Parliament a few weeks ago. According to him, there are three reasons why Britain should stay in the European Union: “idealistic, pragmatic, and selfish.” Those ideas refer to the purposes behind the creation of the EU, cooperative interactions between the EU countries, and a Britain with economic and financial benefits. The last rationale has the most relevant point of view since Britain has won many internal and external trade deals in the European Single Market system. During the discussion titled “Brexit/Bremain: what is at stake for the UK and the EU” on May 24^th at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Dr. Mario Telo, former president of ULB-IEE, stated in his panel discussion that the value of the pound sterling will drastically decrease, and British citizens will become poorer if “Brexit” really happens. In fact, this argument is also expressed by many experts from all over the world. For example, Guntram Wolff, from the director of the think-tank Bruegel has pointed out many interesting facts to support this idea. If “leave” wins, many international companies such as Hitachi might move some of their business outside the United Kingdom. Also, the European Union is the UK’s main trading partner, perhaps future trade negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union will not reach an agreement. Another reason I find very convincing is the potential detriment to the 27 European Union member states if “leave” succeeds. This will negatively affect many European Union citizens’ view towards the United Kingdom. Many EU countries have been warning the UK on Brexit: “If you leave, you leave. And we won’t grant you the benefits of the single market. You won’t move to an à la carte membership.” (Erlanger) As a consequence, it will be difficult for the United Kingdom to set up a special relationship with the European Union in the future.

Recently, the murder of MP Jo Cox has raised many concerns over today’s referendum. According to the POLITICO analyst Francesco Guerrera, this incident has completely changed the dynamics of the referendum campaign. It seems that the death of Ms. Jo Cox has reconciled the conflict between both sides as “MPs were united in genuine shock and sadness at the loss of the 41-year-old mother of two little girls, aged three and five.” (Mctague) Many experts believe that this incident will strengthen “Remain”.

As a student who studies about Europe, I definitely wish the United Kingdom stay in the European Union.

References

Barker, Alex. “What a British Divorce from the EU Would Look like – FT.com.”Financial Times. Financial Times, n.d. Web. 19 June 2016.

“BBC ON THIS DAY | 27 | 1967: De Gaulle Says ‘non’ to Britain – Again.”BBC News. BBC, 27 Nov. 1967. Web. 19 June 2016.

Beddoes, Zanny Minton. The Brexit Briefs: Our Guide To Britain’s EU Referendum. London: The Economist, June 2016. PDF.

Erlanger, Steven. “Britain Asks If Tone of ‘Brexit’ Campaign Made Violence Inevitable.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 17 June 2016. Web. 19 June 2016.

Erlanger, Steven. “E.U. Countries Warn Britain on ‘Brexit’: You’ll Pay If You Leave Us.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 June 2016. Web. 20 June 2016.

Guerrera, Francesco. “POLITICO Morning Exchange: UK Vote Bloodied by MP Killing — Germany vs ECB — Helicopter Money.” Politico. N.p., n.d. Web.

Mctague, Tom. “Jo Cox Death Unites Britain’s Warring Politicians in Sorrow.”POLITICO Jo Cox Death Unites Britains Warring Politicians in Sorrow Comments. POLITICO, 16 June 2016. Web. 19 June 2016.

“Jo Cox Death Unites Britain’s Warring Politicians in Sorrow.” POLITICO Jo Cox Death Unites Britains Warring Politicians in Sorrow Comments. N.p., 16 June 2016. Web. 19 June 2016.

Stone, Jon. “EU Referendum: Poll Reveals 10-point Swing towards Brexit as Campaigns Enter Final Stages.” The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, n.d. Web. 19 June 2016.

Wolff, Guntram B. “The Three Dangers of Brexit | Bruegel.” Bruegel. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2016.

Today was our third day in Stockholm and our second free day. From the moment I stepped off the train I knew this city would be amazing. Everything from the architecture to the canals to the people is beautiful and unique. This past weekend was filled with sightseeing and I know we each walked at least double the daily steps amount. Saturday was a free day and a group of us walked across one of the many bridges to the old town, which is on an island in the middle of a canal. Here you can see historical churches, the Parliament, the royal palace and tight, European-style cobblestone streets. We walked all around the island and visited the palace for the changing of the guard ceremony. We also were able to partake in multiple gelato runs this weekend as there’s seemingly an ice cream shop on every corner.

Sunday we went to a different island, again crossing from the mainland via a bridge, and visited the modern art museum. There we saw videos depicting art in sound, saw elaborate sculptures of mushrooms, and also viewed contemporary painted artwork. The museum was huge and had so many exhibits we couldn’t get to them all before our canal tour. The canal tour proved to be very useful for directions since most of the main paths in Stockholm follow the water. It lasted for approximately an hour and included commentary about buildings along the canal, including the first Absolut vodka processing plant. Dr. Birchfield treated us to a traditional Swedish dinner after the tour; most students ordered Swedish meatballs, a dish talked about in the States but almost never made.

Today was another free day and I was determined to use it to my advantage. A group of us walked back to the island hoe to the modern art museum and instead walked around in the Djurgarden, a large park that almost covers the island. It actually used to be hunting grounds for a house on the property but now belongs to the government and families live on the water in some of the old houses. We took a breathtaking walk around the water, getting views of geese, which were out in full force, and the surrounding countryside. The old homes were beautiful to look at and the boats docked were enormous. It was then that we decided to rent a boat and cruise around the river, getting views from another point of view. It was surprisingly easy to do this; we got lunch to go and rented a Go Boat, a popular tourist attraction in Stockholm, to use on the water. This was very different from the States, where you almost always need a boating license to drive anything on the water with an engine. We had an amazing time on the water; it was a sunny day with almost no current or waves. I already like Stockholm better than any city we’ve been to thus far on the program; it’s so vibrant and bustling, like a U.S. city, but has the historic architecture that makes you feel like you’re in a period drama.

Tomorrow we have a busy day of site visits; we go to the Swedish foreign ministry as well as the Parliament. I’m glad we’ve had a chance to be touristy in this city before we leave and that the weather has been (pretty) good to us so far. I’m looking forward to our last full day in Stockholm tomorrow and am already looking forward to leaving for Paris this upcoming weekend!

Unfortunately for me, the day for which I’m writing this blog post was the day where we spent most of the day on the train from Copenhagen to Stockholm. Our trip to Copenhagen was a resounding success as I found the city to be just as charming as the first time I visited except with MUCH better weather. With Copenhagen being such a small city, it was really nice to be able to walk around and see almost everything the city had to offer. We even managed to have a couple of days where the rain decided to stop long enough for some sun to come through. But as our time in Copenhagen came to an end, we boarded a train and headed for the border to Sweden. While the train ride was quite long, it happened to be on board one of the nicer trains I’ve ridden on across Europe. I certainly did my best to keep myself occupied during the train ride by watching the new season of Orange is the New Black and discussing politics with Dr. Birchfield. After killing most of the trip with these, a nice lunch on the train, and a short power nap we were closing in on Stockholm’s Central Station. Pulling into the city gave a fantastic view as the sun was out and the city was beautiful!

In front of the Swedish Parliament building!

Our late afternoon arrival would have given little time to explore anywhere else in the world, but when the sun doesn’t set until 11 P.M. you have a lot of time on your hands. We ventured out in a large group to get a taste of what Stockholm has to offer. We stumbled upon the area in which the Royal Palace and Parliament buildings are right next to each other. Neither had an extravagantly beautiful or ornate architecture, but both were impressive and distinctly Scandinavian in nature. We then spent some time wandering around the area called Gamla Stan. This is Stockholm’s “old town” where there has been a settlement of some sort dating back to the year 1252! The streets were narrow and lined with shops and houses. One of the distinct things that I noticed in regards to architecture of not just this area but Stockholm as a whole in my brief visit is the black roof tiles on most buildings in the city. When you’re in France or Italy almost every building and house has red roof tiles that I began to associate with Europe in general. However in Sweden all of the tiles are black giving the city a unique architectural aspect to set it apart from its neighbors in the south. I look forward to the coming days and really getting to experience Stockholm!