Brexit: A Review of Impact On Future of United Kingdom Outside The European Union
Brexit: A Review of Impact On Future of United Kingdom Outside The European Union
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Abstract: - The term Brexit refers to withdrawal of United Kingdom from the European Union. In 2015, the UK
Parliament initiated the legal basis for the Brexit Referendum in accordance with the European Union Referendum
Act and election manifesto of the Conservative Party. It was announced by Prime Minister of UK, David Cameron
that in case of re-election of Conservative Party into the government, they will hold a referendum to determine
peoples’ perspective on continuation of UK’s EU membership. Hence, after coming into power as a result of 2015
general elections, in the mid of 2016 the government held a referendum widely known as the Brexit referendum in
which 51.9% electorate decided in favor of UK leaving EU. Post-referendum PM David Cameron and Chancellor
George Osborne resigned from their respective positions and were replaced by Theresa May as PM and Philip
Hammond as Chancellor. In January 2017, Theresa May announced implementation of a 12-point plan of
negotiation objectives and discontinuation of UK membership in the European Single Market. The UK government
also initiated proper procedure for the Brexit by invoking Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union on March 29,
2017. United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union will be finally concluded till March 30, 2019, unless
decided otherwise by all the negotiating parties. As of now, Brexit terms and conditions are in process of
formulation. Subsequently, UK will continue functioning as a member of EU until successful completion of all
formalities till the March 30, 2019.
Key words:- Brexit referendum; European Union Referendum Act; Conservative Party Election Manifesto;
European Single Market; Article 50 of Treaty on European Union
1. Introduction
United Kingdom was not a participant to Treaty of Rome (1957) which was the basis for creation of European
Communities (EC). The EC consisted of European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC), European Coal and Steel
Community (ECSC) and European Economic Community (EEC). During 1963 and 1967, UK applied for the
membership of the European Economic Community (EEC); but the proposal was vetoed both times by the then
President of France, Charles de Gaulle, stating that UK harbors deep-seated hostility to any pan-European venture
and is incompatible with Europe due to its various economic practices, ranging from agriculture to working practices
(BBC, 1967). It was only after he relinquished office in 1969 that UK made a 3rd and successful attempt at joining
the EEC. At the time, Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued an official document, FCO 30/1048, which
discussed internal autonomy and constitutional/legal implications; with special emphasis on the policy legislation
areas to be affected by of UK admittance into EEC viz: agriculture; custom duties; free movement of capital, labor,
services; social security for migrant manpower; and transport (UK Govt., 1972). In January 1972, Treaty of
Accession was signed by the PM Edward Heath. This was followed by ratification of European Communities Act
1972 (UK Govt., 1972) by UK Parliament and depositing of instrument of ratification on October 17 and 18
respectively, finally validating UK’s EEC membership w.e.f. January 1, 1973 (BBC, 1973).
The first ever national referendum on issue of UK continuing in the EEC was held in 1975 by the Labour Party
government. At that time, there was political disagreement among the ranks of the Labour Party over the issue and at
a party conference held on April 26, 1974; the members had voted 2:1 in favor of departure from EEC. Due to
division of cabinet between pro-European and anti-European ministers, PM Harold Wilson had to suspend the
constitutional convention of cabinet collective responsibility thus allowing the ministers to campaign publicly. The
notion of exiting from EEC was supported by 7 out of 23 cabinet members (Butler and Kitzinger, 1976). However,
the national media and all major political parties strongly supported the notion of UK continuing with the EEC
membership. The public referendum was held on June 5, 1975 and the voters were asked to vote yes or no to the
question “Do you think UK should stay in the European Economic Community?” With the exception of Shetland
Islands and Outer Hebrides, all the administrative counties and regions voted with yes with the 67.2% turnout in
favor of staying thus UK continued to be a member of EEC (House of Commons Library, 2015)
In 2012, PM David Cameron had denounced the demands for holding of a public referendum (The Guardian, 2012).
However in January 2013, he announced holding of an in-out referendum in 2017, subject to re-election into
government in 2015 elections, to ensure that UK-EU relationship had full support of the British people. It can be
assumed that the factors affecting this announcement were increasing popularity of UKIP (UK Independence Party)
and massive pressure from the Conservative MPs (BBC, 2013). Unexpectedly, the Conservative Party was re-elected
into the government as a result of 2015 elections. Subsequently in order to facilitate the referendum, the European
Union Referendum Act 2015 was brought for ratification into the UK Parliament.
PM Cameron, while addressing the House of Commons on February 22, 2016, announced that the referendum
would be held on June 23, 2016. He also talked about the possibility of triggering the Article 50 process in case of
leave vote which further involves two-year time period for negotiating the terms of exit with the EU (UK Govt.,
2016). There were two official groups campaigning for the referendum; Vote Leave was campaigning for leaving
the EU and the group supportive of remaining in EU was Britain Stronger in Europe. There were several other
groups e.g. #INtogether, Another Europe is Possible, Conservatives In, Environmentalists For Europe, Greens for a
Better Europe, Labour in for Britain, Scientists for EU, Universities for Europe also campaigning for the remain
vote (The Independent, 2016). The results were declared on June 24 with Leave decision securing a simple but
decisive majority of 51.9% (Fig 1). Later, a petition was filed calling for a second referendum which attracted 4
million signatures (The Independent, 2016) but was subsequently rejected by the government (BBC, 2016).
Theresa May (BBC, 2016). There were several other noteworthy changes in the government setup with Phillip
Hammond replacing George Osborne as Chancellor of the Exchequer; David Davis appointed Secretary of State
(Exiting the European Union); and Conservative MP Boris Johnson became Secretary of State (Foreign and
Commonwealth Affairs). Leaders of several political parties also stepped down from their positions e.g. Leader of
UKIP Nigel Farage resigning on July 4 (BBC, 2016) and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn failing to get a vote of
confidence from his parliamentary party. However he went on to win the leadership challenge for selecting a new
head of Labour Party.
The referendum results were welcomed by several Eurosceptic leaders outside UK encouraging other EU nations to
follow suit. The right-wing Dutch populist, Geert Wilders urged Netherlands to follow UK example to go for the
referendum on future of Holland-EU relations (The Telegraph, 2016). However, fortnight opinions polls reflected a
decrease in popularity of Eurosceptic movements in Netherlands and other EU member states in the aftermath of the
British referendum (The Guardian, 2016).
Former Labour PM Gordon Brown, who was a signatory of the Lisbon Treaty (2007), was skeptic of the risky after
effects of the referendum and predicted that UK could possibly be re-fighting the referendum in the next decade. He
commented that remainers’ opinion about Brexit being catastrophic and unmanageable is too pessimistic, while
leavers’ viewpoint about overstatement of economic risks is highly optimistic (The Guardian, 2016). Former Labour
PM Tony Blair advised that the government should consider various alternatives before making the final decision on
Brexit e.g. decision by the UK parliament; holding of a 2nd referendum; or general elections (The Independent,
2016). Former Conservative PM John Major called upon the parliament to endorse the final negotiated deal and then
decide on the need of holding a 2nd referendum in view of the negotiated deal (BBC, 2016).
This topic is very diverse and multi dimensional with a wide range of anomalies and implications which are difficult
to cover in scope of this article. Hence for the purpose of simplicity this paper has been divided into four chapters.
Chapter 1 gives a brief but compact introduction of the topic’s past and present background. Chapter 2 reviews the
concerned literature alongwith several associated topics. Chapter 3 discusses the economic impact of Brexit on UK.
Chapter 4 discusses the aftermath of Brexit followed by the conclusion.
2. Literature Review
2.1 European Union – An introduction
The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 28 European countries (commonly known as EU28).
In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome which
led to the establishment of the European Communities (EC), the initial form of the European Union (European
Commission, 2011). EU was established as a result of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 followed by introduction of
European citizenship concept (Europa Web Portal, 1992). Croatia (2013) is the 28th and latest country to join the EU.
However with UK exiting the EU the number of member states will fall to 27 (hence EU27). The EU follows a
standardized set of obligatory laws to facilitate development of internal single market which guarantees free passage
of capital, goods, services, and people; endorses legislation for home/justice affairs; and adheres to mutual policies
for agriculture, fisheries, regional development and trade (Europa web portal, 2007). Soon after the establishment of
the European Union, border controls were abolished by all member states (Schengen) (Europa web portal, 2010)
alongwith establishment of a monetary union (2000). With the exception of UK which uses Pound Sterling, all EU27
member countries used Euro as the standard currency unit. The latest major amendment to EU constitution was the
Treaty of Lisbon (2009). The EU adopts a hybrid system of governance for making inter-governmental and
supranational decisions (Britannica, 2013). It further comprises of six major authorities (Fig 2) known as institutions
of EU viz:
EU Institutions Headquarters
Figure 3:- EU population: Past expansions and future contractions (Post Brexit)
Figure 4:- Largest economies by nominal GDP in 2017 Figure 5:- Nominal GDP – IMF WEO 2015
former member state request to rejoin the EU, the procedure will be the same as for any other new applicant country
(Article 49 accession process as stated in Article 50(4) of Lisbon Treaty)
5. Invocation by the United Kingdom
Following the Brexit referendum, PM May announced invocation of Article 50 till end of March 2017 (BBC, 2016).
Subsequently after Supreme Court ruling on Miller’s Case and ratification of the EU Act 2017 by the UK Parliament,
on March 29, 2017, the PM sent out the letter notifying invocation of Article 50. Barring exception for extension of
negotiation timeline, by April 2019 UK will officially cease to be an EU member. However, until that time the UK
will continue to conform to all treaties and will be a legitimate member of the EU (The Guardian, 2016)
3. Impact of Brexit on UK
Post-Brexit referendum, there was uneasiness in UK’s economic and political scenario which also affected the EU
and the international community. Certain issues still await concurrence of major political forces viz: timeline setting
for withdrawal of UK from EU; terms of negotiations; and triggering of the Article 50.
Several politicians have suggested holding of a general elections prior to finalizing the withdrawal, which will
further require repealing of Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (The Observer, 2016). Contrasting difference was seen
in the voting patterns in various territories: Remain was the majority response in Gibraltar, Greater London,
Scotland, Northern Ireland alongwith several other cities; while Leave was the dominant response in remainder of
England and Wales and most unionist parts of Northern Ireland which was a major cause of concern among Irish and
Scottish nationalists (The Economist, 2016). Later in July, Foreign Affairs Select Committee was informed that PM
Cameron had prohibited the Civil Service from formulating plans for Brexit, termed by the committee as an act of
gross negligence (The Guardian, 2016).
The economic after-effects of the Brexit were widely debated in wake of the referendum and the debate had
continued ever since. Remainers and UK treasury shared a common opinion that staying in EU was prosperous and
beneficial for trade (UK Govt., 2016) whereas, the Leavers had supported the notion of leaving saying that
discontinuation of net contributions to the EU will facilitate tax decrease and at the same time increase government
spending ultimately leading to economic uplift of the common people (The Guardian, 2016).
3.1 Trade and economy
Pre-referendum UK treasury had warned against the strong negative impact of Brexit on UK’s trade (IFS, 2016). In
the event of UK deciding to continue with the European Free Trade Area, it would still have to contribute to the EU
budget. The Institute for Fiscal Studies stated that post Brexit UK’s economic forecasts point towards decrease in
government spending (The Telegraph, 2016).
On June 15, 2016, Vote Leave group laid down a prospective roadmap in event of Britain deciding to leave the EU
(Fox News, 2017). It was expected of the UK Parliament to formulate legislation for:
1. Finance bill: Scrapping of VAT (Value added tax) on domestic energy bills
2. Asylum and immigration control bill: To restrict the EU citizens’ right of privileged entry into UK.
3. National Health Service Bill: In addition to the original budgetary allocations, the bill would receive a weekly
grant of £100mn.
4. Free trade bill: To start negotiating its own deals with non-EU countries.
5. European Communities Act 1972 (Repeal) bill: For ending the jurisdiction of the EU Court of Justice over
UK and discontinuation of EU budgetary contributions.
6. Great repeal bill: In October 2016, PM May assured that a “Great Repeal Bill” would be introduced into the
parliament in May 2017 and would be ratified during the Article 50 negotiations. This bill would result in
abolition of European Communities Act 1972; integration of existing EU laws into UK domestic law; and
would facilitate smooth transition by ensuring that all laws are in place unless distinctively repealed. The bill
would not be implemented until the exit of UK from the EU. (The Guardian, 2016).
Bank of England’s Chief Economist and the Executive Director of Monetary Analysis and Statistics, Andy Haldane
admitted to erroneous forecasting envisaging a downward spiraling economy and indicated that the economic
performance of UK post-referendum was encouraging (The Guardian, 2017).
suggested that despite increasing uncertainty, the signs of the substantial economic decline are yet to be noticed
however there is a possibility of short-term negative impact (The Guardian, 2016). The economic experts, after 3-
months monitoring of the economic activity, had confirmed that various concerns and negative inferences of the
REMAINERS were nothing but false alarms and maintained that Brexit had a slight abnormal effect on the inflation.
3.5 Financial institutions
Governor Bank of England, Mark Carney expressed his satisfaction on the economic position of UK and stated that
since the financial crisis (2008) the capital requirements of the country’s biggest banks have increased 10 times and
appropriate measures are in place for scenarios more critical than the present one. As of now, UK banks have raised
fresh capital of over £130bn and highly liquid assets worth £600bn which enables them to continue domestic and
commercial lending. Moreover, to ensure smooth business activities, Bank of England has a standing-by pool of
additional funds worth £250bn with substantial liquidity available in foreign currency. Since re-establishment of
global relations will be taking some time so there is expectancy of economic and market volatility which is natural.
As of now, all the government factions are engrossed in formulating extensive contingency measures to ensure UK’s
economic well-being.
Post-referendum shares of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Standard Chartered fell (21%) considerably. However
speedy recovery was observed in both HSBC and Standard Chartered while Barclays, Lloyds, RBS Group remained
down by 10% (Financial Times, 2016).
The three major credit rating agencies, Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Group and Moody’s negatively reacted to the Brexit
vote. Standard & Poor's reduced UK’s credit rating from AAA to AA, Fitch Group from AA+ to AA, and Moody's
cut the UK's outlook to negative (BBC, 2016). To ensure financial solidity, Bank of England decreased the
countercyclical capital buffers requirement for the banks and released additional funds amounting to £150bn in
lending (The Guardian, 2016).
Amid all these circumstances, the Berlin Senate encouraged the UK-based businesses to relocate to Berlin (The
Guardian, 2016). There is also a possibility of global relocation of various big and small banks from UK as per
British Banking Association (BBC, 2016).
3.6 International Monetary Fund (IMF)
IMF stated that the results of the Brexit referendum would greatly affect the plans for international economic
recovery and responded by reducing UK economic growth forecast for 2017 (2.2% to 1.3%). However it was widely
expected that Britain would come up 2nd on the 2016 list of the fastly growing economies. Later in July, IMF
published a report forewarning about the risks posed by Brexit to global economic growth and the prospective
shortcomings in view of present uncertainty over the exit mechanism to be adopted by UK (The Guardian, 2016).
3.7 G20 Finance Ministers Summit, China
The G20 Finance Ministers Summit 2016 (Chengdu, China) marked Brexit as a major international concern
alongside terrorism. It warned against the global economic uncertainty following Britain’s intended exit from the EU
and stressed on the importance of close collaboration between UK and Europe (The Guardian, 2016). Chancellor
Philip Hammond stated that solution of this uncertainty is closely associated with the UK-EU exit arrangements.
Hammond also reiterated various government statements regarding the prospective strategy for economic stability
e.g. decrease in taxes, increase in government spending and boosting bilateral international trade (The Telegraph,
2016). Chairman FSB and Governor Bank of England, Mark Carney sent a correspondence to the G20 finance
ministers and heads of the central banks regarding the hardships borne by the global economy and the appropriate
actions taken by the FSB. He also lauded the role of G20 post-crisis reforms in smooth and effective functioning of
the financial system; and suppression of after-effects of world crisis, despite all risks and uncertainties (The Asian
Banker, 2016).
3.8 Effect on academic research
Apart from being a member of the EU, UK is also a participant in the European Research Area. Due to undeniable
significance of research in the present era, it is highly probable that UK would continue involvement in EU
framework programs within the European Research Area as an associate member (UNESCO, 2015). All member
states of the EU contribute to a 7-year budget for innovation and research. The latest (8th) program was implemented
in 2014 and is called Horizon 2020. In future, the allocation and availability of these funds would have to be re-
negotiated between the EU and the UK and any shortfall of funds would have to be managed by the UK (UK Govt,
2016).
Once UK exits from the EU, it would no longer have access to EU structural funds which are widely used in
financing of research-related infrastructure. During the 7th framework program (2007-2013) the UK was recipient of
€8.8bn from the EU and contributed €5.4 bn. As far as appropriate basis for award of funds is concerned (Fig 5),
Germany (€7.14bn) was the largest recipient of the 7 th framework program (2007-2013) followed by UK (€6.9bn)
out of a total figure of €55.4bn (London Royal Society, 2016). In 2013, UK was recipient of the greatest number
(1000) of grants by the European Research Council (ERC) with 44% of them going to UK based non-nationals;
more than any other member of the EU (Cressey, 2016).
Chancellor Philip Hammond had guaranteed the businesses and universities over availability of future research
funding, at the same time advising them to continue vouching for the EU research funding till the time that UK
ceases to be the EU member. PM May also announced to increase the magnitude of government funding for R&D
worth £2bn/year by 2020 and creation of a new “Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund” for supporting technological
advancement. Simultaneously, The Business Secretary also announced an investment of £229mn in R&D alongwith
development of a new industrial strategy in liaison with major stakeholder groups (UK Govt., 2016).
citizens migrating to the UK had also decreased substantially, from around 250,000 (2004) to 100,000 (2016). The
possible explanation of this reduction can be the unequivocal visa policy to restrict non-EU migration. Thus the free
movement policy has facilitated squeezing out non-EU migrants.
Post-Brexit, UK will be able to control the national migration policy and it has to formulate effective mechanism for
exercising this control. However, it is imperative that the government doesn’t reduce migration considerably, making
it a privilege only limited to 1 st world countries and their citizens. Migration is a global trend with endless benefits,
and is an essential component for progress of vibrant economies. Hence, it is essential to carry-out research to
comprehend evolution of migration in near future and identify approaches and ideas that will be effective in making
migration equally beneficial for both developing countries and their citizens (Mitchell and Käppeli, 2017).
4.3 Free trade access to third world and developing countries
Post Brexit, whether in presence/absence of an intermediary agreement, the very first precedence of UK should be
continuation of “duty free-quota free”, the facility already being availed by some developing countries. Here it must
be kept in mind, that this action would have no bearing on the on-going negotiations between the EU and the UK
which not only would motivate the businesses and investors to proceed with their investment plans but would also
be highly feasible for UK’s businesses and consumers importing goods from emerging economies thus assisting UK
to establish a new schedule at the WTO.
The UK Government had defined a broader approach to Brexit and announced adoption of an independent trade
policy. However, on the frontier of “trade for development”, UK should explore initiatives to improve upon the
current EU approach e.g. by fulfillment of the British Trade Promise through continuation of “duty free-quota free
access” to other countries while employing simpler administrative procedures (Mitchell and Barder, 2017).
4.4 Leadership role of UK in “trade for development” policy
It has already been communicated through Brexit campaign and ensuing government reactions that UK is keen on
developing a new “trade for development” policy for embracing free trade and developing new economic affiliations
and thus conforming to the PM May ambition of making UK a “global leader on free trade”. It is an obvious fact
that the trade policies of developed countries greatly influence the creation of opportunities in developing and under-
developed countries. Hence in order to identify the approaches employed, systematic analysis of effects of
developed country’s trade policies on developing countries is imperative. In this perspective, a 4-step policy had
been devised by employing trade experts and latest research, which would be highly beneficial in establishing UK at
the top of the CDI trade index and establishment as world-leader on “trade for development” policy. The 4-step
policy had been summarized in the table 1.
Area Current best Line of action for Challenges
approach better results
Best possible access for developing countries to the UK market
1. Elimination Reduction of all tariffs to zero or a low Strong opposition
or substantial general rate especially for agriculture from protected
reduction of Australia and textile sectors. domestic producers
tariffs New Zealand Substantial reduction in agriculture Loss in tariff income.
subsidies.
3. Cutting red The custom procedures of UK are highly Some minor loss of tax
tape at the feasible and convenient however income
UK borders Denmark following changes can also be made:
Netherlands Raise threshold on customs and taxes
Use international product standards
4. Enhancing Context and details of project design are Results-based aid for
effectiveness key, as the failure of Trade market trade untested and will
of aid for Southern African highlights need to overcome
trade Trademark Scope and pilots cash-on-delivery objections similar to
East Africa (performance-based payments) those of other domains
Assess new UK trade deals for
development impact to inform aid for
trade targeting
Table 1: Four steps for the UK to be the global leader in trade for development
Policy areas concerned with agricultural subsidies, overall low tariffs and reduced thresholds for VAT at the borders
are clearly under government jurisdiction. However, swift progress can be made in providing duty free trade access
to under developed countries. Moreover as discussed above, there are some challenges that surround these steps.
Since these policies would be implemented effectively after UK exits from the EU (2019) hence it would be
advisable to utilize this time frame for consultation and in forging genuine partnerships with developing countries.
Since the magnitude of imports from developing countries is comparatively small, it would lead to lower import
costs; simple overseas sourcing of inputs; enhanced competition and productivity (Anderson, Mitchell and Crawfurd,
2017).
4.5 Threats and Opportunities for Global Development
A lot of uncertainty surrounds UK’s response to the results of the Brexit referendum voicing its exit from the EU.
However, it will be the results of the negotiations between UK and the EU that will decide how it would impact the
collaboration with developing countries. As of now, there are only speculations regarding the threats and
opportunities posed by Brexit which are discussed as under:
Threats
Brexit will have multi-dimensional impact on several economic and financial factors e.g. economic growth,
humanitarian/financial aid, remittances and international trade thereby posing severe negative repercussion for
economics of developing countries. Some of those are as follows:
Direct impact
1. Brexit can vastly impact (-ve) the economic dynamics of developing countries maintaining close economic
relationship with UK e.g. Nigeria, South Africa and some commonwealth countries. This could cause potential
reduction in exports, economic growth, employment, FDI (inward) and remittances of these countries.
2. UK spends 0.7% of its GDP on international aid purposes. To stimulate economic stability, the government
might consider substantial retrenchment in aid spending alongwith other spending reductions to switch support
to welfare programs with greater economic benefits and scope. Even if the government continues the 0.7%
commitment, the resulting lower GDP will cause reduction in aid budget.
3. The EU had signed “Everything but Arms (EBA) Agreement” and the “European Partnership Agreements
(EPAs)” under which the underdeveloped and poor countries receive duty free-quota free access to domestic
UK consumers and the liberalized rules of origin. In the Brexit aftermath they will end up losing all these
facilities. However, this anomaly can be avoided if UK formulates comparable framework, albeit not under the
WTO framework, for some or all of the developing countries.
4. As discussed earlier, the government has announced repelling of the European Communities Act 1972. Hence
UK will end up losing legal basis for its economic and financial sanctions and will need to develop and pass
new legislations pertaining to these sanctions.
Indirect impact
1. UK has a great reputation for organizing/hosting international events related to e.g. family planning, nutrition
and vaccination etc. However, soon the UK’s civil service, which is already depleted, will be engrossed in
negotiating the post-EU arrangements with special emphasis on new trade agreements which will render them
unable to organize such events.
2. The UK is a great advocate for setting ambitious targets for low carbon emissions; abolition of
agriculture/export subsidies and trade liberalization with developing countries and following exit of UK, the EU
trade policies are likely to become more protective and less development-friendly. At the same time UK called
upon the EU to take extensive measures against issues such as transparency; international tax avoidance and
corruption. Keeping in view the stance EU w.r.t. to these issues, slow progress is imminent across the world.
3. EuropeAid is the largest multilateral aid agency on the globe. Its annual spending with regard to humanitarian
aid exceeds that of the World Bank. UK advocates development of an effective mechanism for aid spending.
However Post-Brexit, UK would not be able to influence EuropeAid like before hence this aid is likely to be
allocated more to European countries and comparatively less to poor countries. Furthermore, UK is also facing
the prospect of severing ties and losing influence/leverage over several strategic partners specially Turkey. To
prevent occurrence of this dilemma, UK might reallocate the aid spending from poor countries to countries of
strategic importance.
4. Until now UK was the biggest financial contributor towards multilateral development system besides being an
important voice at EU’s coordination meetings for consensus of opinion at major international forums e.g.
World Bank, World Health Organization, a role it will no longer play post-Brexit thus resulting in weaker stance
for both UK and the EU.
Opportunities
Although it poses a lot of threats, Brexit also offers opportunities for global development which are highly beneficial
for developing countries. Some of these are as follows:
1. Previously, UK’s 0.7% aid was spent through the European Commission. Post-Brexit if it decides to continue
spending this aid, then either it can target the poorest countries/communities or shift its focus towards other
institutions striving for the same cause e.g. World Bank, UNDP and UNHCR.
2. In the event of leaving the EU Single Market, the developing countries could be offered duty-free, quota free
access to UK markets coupled with simplified rules of origin. However, prior to execution of this option, UK
would need to abide by WTO rules. It could choose between accommodating wide range of countries or
increased access to open market.
3. Post-Brexit, although the immigration to UK would be overall decreased but there would be more opportunities
for migrants of non-EU countries particularly from Commonwealth countries to come to UK. This will
financially beneficial for both the migrants and their families.
4. The UK is a strong supporter for reduction/abolition of subsidies for agriculture and fishing sector. Post-Brexit
it can abolish these subsidies unilaterally which will benefit the developing countries’ agricultural and fishing
industries. Subsequently, in order to avoid reduction, the EU would need to replenish UK contribution to these
subsidies. This scenario would also be beneficial for the developing countries. Furthermore, for increasing
global food supply, the UK could place scientific restrictions on GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) and
other phyto-sanitary standards, which hinder agricultural exports of developing countries. (Barder, 2016).
Conclusion
Post-Brexit, probably UK will have less “global soft power”, it previously used for promoting progressive changes
and tackling global issues e.g. climatic changes, humanitarian aid reforms, and corruption. It is presumed that post
Brexit UK will be even more influential because of shifting focus from the EU to the global arena. Generally, the
impact of UK on EU policies was progressive as it was strong supporter of adoption of an open and liberal trading
system, elimination of agricultural subsidies and provision of efficient, poverty-focused humanitarian aid and exit of
UK will be diminution of an influential voice from the EU.
Overall, Brexit threats are far greater as compared to the opportunities. The UK government faces a massive task of
effective implementation of the peoples' decision and preparation for future outside the EU. A feasible future
strategy is required to limit the impending detrimental effects of Brexit on development and making full use of the
available opportunities. Finally, the outcome of the Brexit referendum is a stark warning to those stake holders, who
have benefited from globalization and technological advancement over the last couple of decades, that these
progressive benefits should be equally shared with communities and citizens of both rich and poor countries
otherwise bear the future consequences.
Acknowledgements:-
We would like to thank Saif-ur-Rehman, PhD Scholar, School of Management, China University of Mining &
Technology, for his valuable suggestions and comments.
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