All quiet on Brexit Island – An update on the silence.
Since the release of a joint report on 8 December 2017 by the EU and the UK, the topic of the UK leaving the EU appears to have been muted by the press or at the very least muffled to a barely audible sound in the background of front page news.
The question therefore arises: What has been happening behind the scenes since the latter report was released and why is it not getting the same coverage as before?
In simple terms, the joint report from December is uninteresting to the public. It is filled with bureaucratic language that promises nothing and therefore there is nothing noteworthy to report about. Although certain things were negotiated and thereafter agreed upon such as Citizens Rights being based upon the law of the European Union and the protection of the Good Friday deal, the report makes it clear that “nothing is agreed upon until everything is agreed upon”.
Granted that bureaucrats are famously ingenious in avoiding any certainty in their language, even this statement seems far-fetched. What is basically being said in the latter phrase is that no matter what they agree upon in this report, it could unravel at any period, be it in the following phase or right at the closing of the negotiations. All in all, nothing is set in stone. Understandably the reason behind why Brexit is no longer the number 1 story to cover.
Therefore, we should be looking forward to what the next round of riveting negotiations will bring, right? From the joint report, the second phase of negotiations “will address the practical modalities for implementing the agreed methodology and the schedule of payments.”. Yes, you read that right. As mentioned previously, nothing is set in stone, therefore the “agreed methodology and the schedule of payments” are still a blurry dot on the horizon that have absolutely no backing to it, as of yet.
With the clock rapidly ticking and only 9 months until negotiations need to be completed, it is understandable why the British population may be starting to get worried about the lack of certainty behind the negotiations.
Even more alarming, is the call for a “Breverse”, in which business leaders throughout the UK have been attempting to gather momentum to reverse Brexit. Baring in mind that this is completely undemocratic, it also resolutely undermines the UK government’s position that is adamant about leaving the EU’s Customs Union. This quiet plotting that has now become loud and clear to the British population awkwardly brings into light how fragile Brexit negotiations are, and will continue to be, throughout the following phases with so many contradictory interests at play.
To read the full report of 8 December 2017, click here.
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