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OPINION | Brexit referendum embodies long-standing British distrust of EU


04 March 2016 | By Li Guanjie | Global Times

  • Brexit referendum

    The British government announced recently that the UK would hold a referendum on whether or not to remain part of the EU on June 23, confirming plans that had been in place for months.

T

he British government announced recently that the UK would hold a referendum on whether or not to remain part of the EU on June 23, confirming plans that had been in place for months.

Compared with Germany and other European continental countries, the UK has a more mature civil society. Under a "small government, big society" architecture, the British government's decisions are greatly influenced by public opinion. 

The in-out referendum has to some degree been pushed by public pressure. The number of proponents of a British exit from the EU has recently been rising, briefly polling at over 50 percent last November before dipping somewhat below support for remaining, which reflects some British people's extreme distrust in and different values from the EU and some European continental nations. 

The distrust of parts of the British populace in the EU dates back to the country's joining the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor to the EU. The UK is neither in the Schengen area nor in the eurozone. It's not that its people vehemently object to closer European integration, but history makes them feel they are being treated unfairly. 
Back in the 1960s, the UK applied twice for membership of the EEC, which, however, was blocked by a one-ballot veto by French president Charles de Gaulle. In 1990, the country joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) under the then ruling Conservative Party, in a bid to pave the way for the involvement in the Eurozone. This resulted in "Black Wednesday," on September 16, 1992 when the UK government had to withdraw sterling from the ERM because Germany and France offered no assistance during the pound crisis. 

The two incidents enormously increased Euroskeptic sentiments among the British public, before public support for the EU then grew in the 1990s until being badly affected by the aftermath of the 2008 crisis. 

The Conservative Party has also split into pro- and anti-European factions, forcing UK Prime Minister David Cameron, a public opponent of Brexit, to make the referendum a platform policy at the last election. 

In addition, British people have different values from their continental European counterparts, especially in their ideas about freedom. 

The UK has been an advocator and practitioner of liberalism, giving full motivation to develop a powerful social force. In pre-modern times, the country's monarchy was not absolute but was restrained by other powers. 

Since the English Civil War (1642-51), the power of the monarchy has shrunk to purely symbolic, and the House of Lords has been severely limited, while the House of Commons has come to dominate decision-making.

British society boasts vigorous non-governmental forces, with a high degree of social self-governance. The EU's decision-making mechanism is considered to have made a dent in this "British freedom," which is intolerable in the eyes of many British people.

The UK traditionally holds a pragmatic foreign policy of "There are no permanent friends; there are only perpetual interests." This constitutes its basic diplomatic principle. The British take no fixed position. Instead, they just care about how to gain more interests for themselves. 

A loss of national interest has further strengthened their resolution to exit from the EU. The British joined the EEC originally eyeing to benefit from Europe's big market, which, nonetheless, is now being replaced by other markets in the world including Asia.

The author is an assistant research fellow with the Center for British Studies, Shanghai International Studies University. 

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