rostowski18_JOHN THYSAFPGetty Images_theresa may brexit

¿Murió el Brexit?

Dec 20, 2018 Jacek Rostowski

LONDRES – El plan de la primera ministra británica Theresa May de retirar a su país de la Unión Europea de manera ordenada se desmorona. Si bien May sobrevivió a una votación de no confianza, en el próximo mes de enero la Cámara de los Comunes rechazará casi con certeza el acuerdo de salida que ella negoció con los líderes de la UE. Para evitar un Brexit caótico “sin acuerdo”, su gobierno tendrá que solicitar a la UE se pueda postergar la fecha de salida, o retirar su notificación de “intención de salir”, por lo menos temporalmente.

De cualquier manera, el siguiente paso sería celebrar un segundo referéndum donde se proponga la opción denominada salir de Brexit, lo que revertiría la decisión del año 2016 de dejar de pertenecer a la Unión Europea. Los votantes todavía pueden decidir respaldar el acuerdo de May, optar por un acuerdo “al estilo de Noruega” o salir a topa tolondras de la UE sin acuerdo. No obstante, encuestas recientes sugieren que hoy en día la opción de permanecer en la UE saldría victoriosa.

¿Cómo terminó en esta situación un país con 400 años de gobierno constitucional y que tiene una cultura de llegar a acuerdos políticos?

To continue reading, register now.

As a registered user, you can enjoy more PS content every month – for free.

Subscribe now for unlimited access to everything PS has to offer.

Already have an account? Log in

Subscribe to Project Syndicate

Enjoy unlimited access to the ideas and opinions of the world’s leading thinkers, including long reads, book reviews, topical collections, short-form analysis and predictions, and exclusive interviews; every new issue of the PS Quarterly magazine (print and digital); the complete PS archive; and more. Subscribe now to PS Premium.

Brexit vs. the Irish Question Politics
Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images

Brexit vs. the Irish Question

Michael Burleigh marvels at Conservative Brexiteers' utter failure to consider the future of the peace accord – or of the UK.

18
Into the Brexit Labyrinth PS OnPoint
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Subscriber Exclusive

Into the Brexit Labyrinth

Jacek Rostowski shows that there is no viable path to a politically and economically acceptable withdrawal from the EU.

32

new comment has been posted. new comments have been posted.

0 Comments on this paragraph, 4 Comments on this article

thomas greaves Dec 20, 2018

There will be no new referendum and no escape from the decisive referendum that instructed the government to leave the EU. Speculations in this article that suggest alternatives are utterly spurious.
- Robert Coleman Jan 1, 2019
  
  We'll just see about that....Just because you have an emotional aversion to potential resolutions of this un-thought-through existential mess, doesn't mean that any possible resolution is spurious.
  
  You may want Brexit, but indications are that a majority of us now, do not.
  
  Woe betide the government that takes us out of the EU in these circumstances. If it doesn't go extremely well for all concerned, there will be consequences.
  
  A second referendum would be one way to ensure that what is on offer now is what the people wanted. If they get what they didn't want, particularly if there are significant economic costs, they will be very angry.
  
  It is for these reasons that Brexiteers seem to be lying down like lambs these days. The lies are being exposed. Dr Fox is bleating only mildly and has reconciled himself to 'vassalage' or no Brexit at all, and Jacob has come around to seeing the good in Mrs May, whom he now supports, having been forced to re-sheath his knife. They are right that the backstop is crap, and that we will be more subject to European rules than we are now, but then, that is only the result of their incorrect calculations as to their own ability to undermine and blackmail the EU.
  
  The Brexiteers had their chance, but apparently suffer from a perennial performance issue and finished themselves off early, probably the very night of the referendum in hindsight, leaving everyone completely unsatisfied and utterly fed up, and wondering what we ever saw in them. It was all talk and braggadocio.
  A new reply to this comment has been posted.
- Alistair Newton Dec 21, 2018
  
  I completely agree.
  A new reply to this comment has been posted.
A new reply to this comment has been posted.
Paul Ross Dec 20, 2018

It is of little consolation that the simplistic thinking (or lack thereof) of nationalists represented by Brexit, is also running rampant across the pond.
A new reply to this comment has been posted.