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UK

Brexit: The path to Brexit

Summary

The text discusses the background history of the EU, its three key treaties and the
economics of the EU. It then highlights the dissatisfaction of EU policy in the UK that led to
the referendum and then explores the future policies of leaving the EU.

References:

The UK Government. (2016). European Union Referendum 2016: Briefing Paper No:CBP 7639. [online] House of
Commons. Available at: http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7639/CBP-7639.pdf
[Accessed 10 Jan. 2017].

ONS, (2016). The UK's EU membership fee. [online] Office of National Statistics. Available at:
https://fullfact.org/economy/our-eu-membership-fee-55-million/ [Accessed 10 Jan. 2017].

Young, A and Gee, G, (2016). Regaining Sovereignty, Brexit, the UK Parliament and the Common Law.
European Public Law, 22 (1), 131-147.

Copyright: These materials are photocopiable but we would appreciate it if

all logos and web addresses were left on materials. Thank you.

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Student
Time: Approximately 1hour

Two types of lesson

Lesson#1: [Easy] ***** [B2/C1]

1. Try to predict the content of text / write down key terms / ideas
2. Read text – check words and meanings with a dictionary
3. Answer questions
4. Check answers (pass mark is 70%)

Lesson #2: [Hard] ***** [C1]

1. Read text – no dictionary
2. Answer questions
3. Check answers (pass mark is 70%)

Teacher
Two types of lesson

Lesson#1: [easy] ***** [B2/C1]

1. Give out text a week before the test – students read, check vocabulary and meaning.
2. Test day – give out a new copy of text and the questions (no dictionary or notes)
3. Set 1 hour to read text and answer the questions
4. Take in and correct or go through answers in class (pass mark is 70%)
5. Extra activity – students write the summary (add 30 minutes to test) – see reading summary

Lesson #2: [hard] ***** [C1]

1. Test day – give out text and questions
2. Set 1 hour to read text and answer the questions
3. Take in and correct or go through answers in class (pass mark is 70%)
5. Extra activity – students write the summary (add 30 minutes to test) – see reading summary

Summary writing
Link: www.academic-englishuk/summary

Summaries have a number of key points and supporting points to identify. Generally, 4 out 6 key points is a
pass with a supporting point for each.

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The Path to Brexit
C. Wilson (2017)

1) The European Union was formed in the 1950s, specifically under the 1957 Treaty of Rome that
implemented the single market for goods, labour, services and capital with common policies on
transport and agriculture and to incorporate the creation of the European Social fund and
commission. In these early stages it was termed the European Economic Commission (EEC) and was
derived of six member states; Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
The UK declined an invitation to join. Nevertheless, twenty-two years later the UK was granted
accession in 1973 and forty-three years later the UK has voted to leave.

2) Since joining the EU back in 1973 there has been significant progress in terms of regulation and
policy. The first being ‘the Schengen Treaty’ in 1985. This treaty ratified a borderless zone across
member states to include common visa policies and the abolishment of passport controls. The UK
refused to sign up to this agreement. The second was ‘the Maastricht Treaty’ in 1992. This changed
the name from EEC to the EU and introduced the single currency of the Euro through the creation of
the European Central Bank (ECB) to create a second reserve currency in the world and solely control
EU monetary policy to maintain stability. It also developed a better coordination of economic
policies and the implementation of European Citizenship. The final development was the Lisbon
Treaty in 2007. This improved past treaties but also extended powers of judicial matters and
European Parliament.

3) At the moment in 2017, the EU consists of 28 states who operate through a single market with
standardised laws and EU policies aimed at ensuring the four freedoms of the free movement of
goods, services, capital and people with common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and
regional development. The EU is the second largest economy in the world with a combined GDP of
$20.75 trillion, 20% of the global gross domestic product and 30% of the net global wealth of $223
trillion. The EU is the largest exporter in the world and since 2008 is the largest importer of goods
and services. Internal trade is aided by the removal of tariffs and reduced border control. According
to the Office of National Statistics (2016), the UK pays on average £18bn a year for membership, this
equates to £350million a week. In 2016, the UK received a rebate of £5bn and the EU spent £4.5bn
on the UK, therefore the UK’s net contribution is about £8.5bn a year. These costs seem exuberant
and the true benefits are difficult to calculate against investment. On the one hand, the UK
Government (2016) claims that EU benefits provide 4-5% of UK GDP or £62-78bn a year with the
single market increasing flows of investment and the free movement of people benefits recruitment
and knowledge transfer skills. On the other hand, without EU membership the future is unclear but
not necessarily negative due to the fact that this could be a new horizon opening better trade
markets outside a controlled single market and investing solely in the UK.

4) The UK and its relationship with the EU has been a turbulent affair (Young & Gee, 2016) from the
start and there have been numerous calls for referendums. These began just after the accession in
1975 when a referendum to leave was called on the disagreement with the EEC’s agricultural
policies and budget financing, then again in 1983 when Margret Thatcher famously negotiated a
rebate from being the net contributor to the EU funds. Following that in 1992, the UK suspended its
membership over the introduction of the Euro and the exchange rate mechanism. In 2011, the UK
prevented the EU Government plans to levy banks and restrict London’s financial sector. In 2013,
David Cameron tried to renegotiate the UK’s membership and have greater power of immigration,
exclusion from Eurozone bailouts and prevent the EU’s commitment of ‘an ever closer union’, which
the UK sees as a creation of a super-state Europe controlled by one type of political union. However,
the negotiations were not fully met and a referendum was proposed. Finally, in 2016, trouble in the

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Eurozone and the ongoing migrant crisis led to the referendum being called for the 23th June 2016.
The controlling government ‘the conservatives’ were divided with the Prime Minister ‘David
Cameron’ supporting remain and two of his leading politicians supporting leave.

5) On Thursday 23rd June Britain voted to leave the EU with 51.9% leave and 48.1% remain overall.
However, Scotland and Northern Ireland had a majority vote of remain with 62/38 and 55/44
respectively. According to Official Government figures (2016), 34 million people voted equating to a
72% turnout, which was the highest ever turnout in the history of voting. The referendum results
suggest the UK is split down the middle in its opinion on the EU. The main arguments for the leave
campaign were to regain sovereignty, to cut immigration, to remove restrictions of the single
market to access global markets and to spend £350 million a week on the UK economy. Economists
have analysed the results and found a correlation between the people who voted to leave being a
specific social grade (manual, casual workers), non-graduate level of education and the over 60s
(pensioners). Also, the main areas that voted leave were places with high numbers of immigrants,
high unemployment and deprivation from lack of Government funding (mainly the North of
England). London on the other hand voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU (59.9%), which some
Economists suggest is because of multicultural areas, a younger population and highly educated
residents.

6) The referendum vote was to leave so ‘Brexit means Brexit’. Since the vote there has been a
change in Prime Minister and a complete pro-Brexit cabinet reshuffle to accommodate the new
changes. The Government has triggered ‘Article 50’ of the treaty of Lisbon in March 2017. Triggering
Article 50, is the formal notification of the intention to withdraw the UK from the EU and the UK has
two years to leave from that date. At the same time, all the treaties that govern membership no
longer apply to Britain. The terms of exit will be negotiated between Britain’s 27 counterparts. The
Government has two main choices a ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ Brexit. A hard Brexit means to give up full access
to the single market, go back to WTO rules for trade and gain full control of borders and laws. And a
soft Brexit means keep a similar close relationship with the EU similar to existing arrangements with
free access to the Single market, bank passporting rights but no seat on EU commission, and this
deal must include the four freedoms. Whatever the choice, it is now becoming increasingly evident
that the short-term impact is likely to be negative with uncertainties over trade arrangements
already affecting the pound sterling. The Bank of England has stated that Brexit is the biggest risk to
financial stability in history. However, the main point is that no one actually knows exactly what will
happen concerning the implications of Brexit on economic prosperity and the UK’s role on the
international stage.

References:

The UK Government. (2016). European Union Referendum 2016: Briefing Paper No:CBP 7639. [online] House of
Commons. Available at: http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7639/CBP-7639.pdf
[Accessed 10 Jan. 2017].

ONS, (2016). The UK's EU membership fee. [online] Office of National Statistics. Available at:
https://fullfact.org/economy/our-eu-membership-fee-55-million/ [Accessed 10 Jan. 2017].

Young, A and Gee, G, (2016). Regaining Sovereignty, Brexit, the UK Parliament and the Common Law.
European Public Law, 22 (1), 131-147.

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Comprehension questions
1. Headings – match a subtitle for each paragraph
1 B Background history A Dissatisfaction with EU policy
2 B Background history
3 C The way forward
4 D Three key treaties
5 E An analysis of the referendum
6 F EU Economics
____ / 5
2. True / false / not given (T / F/ NG)
i. The UK refused to be a member in the 1950’s because of the treaty of Rome
ii. The UK refused to sign two treaties
iii. The UK receives nothing for its net investment of £8.5bn
iv. The Eurozone crisis was the main reason for the referendum
v. The main reason for the leave vote was from people who felt disadvantaged
vi. Hard Brexit is the better solution
____ / 6
3.Open questions
i. What are the four freedoms?
1____________________ 2) ____________________ 3) ____________________ 4) ____________________
___ / 4
ii. What are the key points of each treaty? (fill in box below)
‘the Schengen Treaty’ ii)
‘the Maastricht Treaty’ iii)
‘the Lisbon Treaty’ iv)
____ / 3
4. EU figures - (fill in box below from paragraph 3 – what do the numbers connect to?)
$20.75 trillion i)
20% ii)
30% iii)
£18bn iv)
£350m v)
£62-78bn vi)
____ / 6
5. Dates: UK disagreements with EU – (fill in box below from paragraph 4 – topics of conflict)
1975 i)
1983 ii)
1992 iii)
2011 iv)
2013 v)
2016 vi)
____ / 6

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6. Reasons: Key reasons why people voted leave - (fill in box below – 4 key reasons)
1
2
3
4
____ / 4
7. Types of people: Who were the main people who voted leave?
1
2
3
____ / 3
8. Definition: What is Article 50?

____ / 2
9. Key language – explain these terms from the context / synonyms where appropriate

Accession Ex. Acquisition / to be added

i. Ratified
ii. Judicial matters
iii. Regional development
iv. Tariffs
v. A rebate
vi. Exuberant
vii. Turbulent
viii. To levy
ix. A bailout
x. Migrant crisis
xi. Sovereignty
xii. Deprivation
xiii. A cabinet reshuffle
xiv. To trigger
xv. Passporting
____ / 15

Overall Score: ___ / 54

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Comprehension Questions ANSWERS

1. Headings – match a subtitle for each paragraph

1 B Background history A Dissatisfaction with EU policy

2 D Three key treaties B Background history
3 F EU Economics C The way forward
4 A Dissatisfaction with EU policy D Three key treaties
5 E An analysis of the referendum E An analysis of the referendum
6 C The way forward F EU Economics

2. True / false / not given

i. The UK refused to be a member in the 1950’s of the treaty of Rome NG
ii. The UK refused to sign two treaties T
iii. The UK receives nothing for its net investment of £8.5bn (hard to calculate) F
iv. The Eurozone crisis was the main reason for the referendum (migrant crisis) F
v. The main reason for the leave vote was from people who felt disadvantaged T
vi. Hard Brexit is the better solution NG

3. Open questions
i. What are the four freedoms? goods, labour, services and capital
ii. What are the key points of each treaty? (fill in box below)

the ‘Schengen Treaty’ i. 1985 borderless zone /no passport controls. UK refused to sign
the ‘Maastricht Treaty’ ii.1992. EEC to EU /single currency /ECB/ European Citizenship.
The’ Lisbon Treaty’ iii) 2007. judicial matters and European Parliament.

4. EU figures - (fill in box below from paragraph 3 – what do the numbers connect to?)
$20.75 trillion i) EU GDP
20% ii) Of Global GDP
30% iii) Net Global wealth
£18bn iv) A year UK membership
£350m v) UK membership a week
£62-78bn vi) UK Government EU membership benefit

5. Dates: UK disagreements with EU – (fill in box below from paragraph 4 – topics of conflict)
1975 i. Agriculture policy and budget financing
1983 ii. Rebate for being Net contributor
1992 iii. Euro and exchange rate mechanism
2011 iv. Levy banks & restrict Financial
2013 v. Eurozone bail outs / super-state Europe
2016 vi. Trouble in Eurozone / migrant crisis

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6. Reasons: Key reasons why people voted leave - (fill in box below – 4 key reasons)

1 Sovereignty
2 Immigration too high
3 Single market prevents global trade
4 Spend EU membership just on UK

7. Types of people: Who were the main people who voted leave?

1 Manual casual workers

2 Non-graduate level educated
3 pensioners

8. Definition: What is Article 50?

Part of the Treaty of Lisbon: formal notification to leave the EU. Takes 2 years.

9. Key language – explain these terms from the context / use synonyms where appropriate)
Accession Acquisition / to be added
i. Ratified Making it officially valid
ii. Judicial matters Appropriate to a law of court
iii. Regional development Aid and help to poorer areas in a country
iv. Tariffs A tax or duty to be paid on exports or imports
v. A rebate A refund of money
vi. Exuberant Very high
vii. Turbulent Conflict not calm
viii. To levy Impose a tax or fine
ix. A bailout Give financial assistance
x. Migrant crisis Too many migrants
xi. Deprivation Lack of basic amenities
xii. A cabinet reshuffle To change politician’s job roles in a government
xiii. Passporting The right to financially trade freely in other countries with
having a headquarters / a company in that country

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