The Anti-globalization Impact of Brexit

张天伟

Abstract：Since joining the European Union， Britain has been playing the role of a half-hearted bystander who in the process of European integration is neither friendly nor aloof. The dramatic Brexit event has brought a great shock to an increasingly integrated world. After the vote to leave the European Union was passed， the political parties in the UK advanced to fight over it， which leads to severe political instability and social fragmentation. The uncertainty over the future of Brexit is also having a negative impact on the UK and European economies， this paper discusses the historical origin of Brexit， the influence of anti-globalization and the new opportunities under the state of anti-globalization. Judging from the global impact of the Brexit negotiations， a definitive Brexit deal is also positive for developing countries.

Key words： anti-globalization， Brexit， the European Union

I. Introduction

In 2016， 52% of the participating UK electorate voted to leave the European Union （EU）， a decision ratified in 2017 by the UK government， who invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union to withdraw from the EU， a decision commonly referred to as Brexit. According to Caterina Moschieri and Daniel J. Blake. （2019）， as the foundation of modern political system， Britain is not only the most crucial country in the modern history of the world， but also one of the most influential countries in the world. Between 2007 and 2013， the UK was one of the largest recipients of funds from the EU for research， development and innovation， with an estimated 6.9 billion of the total 55 billion expenditure - second barely to Germany （Nature material， 2019）.

Brexit is a monumental event that affects the historical process of Europe and even the political and economic development of the world. According to Pan （2018）， the reasons for Brexit include the geopolitics of island countries， traditional political system， European economic crisis， and the Anglo-American alliance. The event of "Brexit" has triggered academic thinking on globalization. Some individuals hold the view that it is a regression of globalization， while others think it is a new development of globalization.

II. the historical of Brexit

1. The European Union

The predecessor of the European Union was the European Community， which is a regional integrating political and economic organization. In 1973， the 12 member states of the European Community have established a customs union， integrated their foreign trade and agricultural policies， created the European monetary system， and established a unified budget and political cooperation system， gradually becoming representatives of the economic and political interests of European countries. In 1993， the European Community was renamed the European Union， which marks the transition of EU from economic entity to economic and political entity. In 2004， The European Union is expanding for the fifth time in its history， and the enlarged EU now has 25 members， up from 15. At the same time， the EU's economy is the same size as America's and its overall strength has grown.

2. The course of Brexit

Britain applied to join the European Community three times in the 1960s， but was vetoed by French President Charles De Gaulle in 1963 and again in 1967. The six members of the common European Union decided to open negotiations with Britain and reached an agreement in January 1972. Britain formally joined the European Community in 1973. In October of the same year， the fourth Middle East war triggered the world's first oil crisis， which devastated the economies of quite a few countries on the European continent. And the British economy was also severely affected， which lead to the rise of Euroscepticism in Britain. The euro officially entered circulation in 2002. Nevertheless， Britain chose to refuse to join the euro zone. The prospect of joining the euro zone is uncertain and even worrying that Britain would be stuck with high unemployment. On the other hand， Britain has always believed in a free-market economy， and joining the single currency system is a clear breach of its free-market principles. In 2009， the outbreak of the European debt crisis， which lead to the British domestic Eurosceptics strength again rising. In February 2016， Britain has reached a deal on EU reform after tough negotiations with member states， which gives Britain "special status" in the EU. Cameron subsequently announced that a referendum would be held on June 23 on Britain's membership of the European Union. At the start of May， support for remain in the EU was significantly higher than support for leave， but over time， support for remain has been declining and support for leave has been rising， even as the day before the referendum， support for remain and leave makes no distinction of rank. In the end， the leave campaign won the referendum by 51.9%.

III.The anti-globalization impact of Brexit

1. Impact on the European Union

After Brexit， Britain will become the "third country" of the EU. From the perspective of trade， which means that all trade transactions between the EU and the UK require re-establishing the trade standard of arrangement. At the same time， the EU's existing trade agreements need to be renegotiated if not renegotiated because of Britain's switching identities. For the EU， the above negotiation which means a tremendous loss of manpower and material resources at the technical level， which will delay the development process of the EU.

2. Allied strikes

Britain's exit from the EU also means that the voices within the EU for free trade will become less vocal and less powerful. Due to Britain has always stood for free trade and an open economy within the European Union. If the UK successfully breaks away from the EU， other EU allies will not be able to benefit from the UK's membership in important international organizations， and the EU's soft power and international status will decline to different degrees， leading to the EU's influence in foreign trade negotiations will be greatly reduced.

3. The rise of the Right-wing parties

The "demonstration effect" for Brexit may trigger the reverse tide of European integration. In the past decade， many right-wing populist parties opposed to European integration， such as the Dutch Far-right Liberal Party in the Netherlands， the Danish People's Party in Denmark and the Sweden Social Democratic Party in Sweden， have gained broad support among voters in domestic elections. These far-right populist parties are adept at using populist rhetoric to whip up opposition to the European integration process. After the British referendum， Marine Le Pen， the leader of the far-right national front party in France， made Eurosceptic remarks， saying that if she won the 2017 election， she would hold a "Brexit" referendum modeled on the UK's Brexit model. Although Le Pen was defeated in the 2017 French election， it is worth noting that more than 30 percent of the voters still chose to support her.

4. The grim Brexit situation

In the three months since the Brexit vote， the pound has continued to plummet， hitting a 30-year low against the dollar. Not only that， the pound fell sharply against the RMB， yen， euro and other exchange rates. What follows is the increasing Consumer pressure of people's daily life. The UK stock market also suffered a Waterloo on the same day， and quite a few companies and institutions， lacking confidence in the future development of the UK， said they would withdraw from the UK.

IV. Other thoughts on Brexit

There must be two sides to an issue， and that is the case with Brexit. China and the UK are establishing a global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century and the feasibility study of China-UK FTA is also under way. At present， the United States is pursuing trade protectionism in a high profile and stirring up trade wars in the world. The stable and pragmatic economic and trade cooperation between China， the EU and the UK will promote the economic growth of all parties in an orderly manner and set a positive example for the global response to the trend of anti-globalization and the sound with sustainable development of the global economy.

V. Conclusion

The political disruption and turmoil contribute to the Brexit process is not limited to the UK， but is also being felt across the continent， with other EU member states having to prepare for Brexit. The vote to leave the European Union was a victory for populism that spurred the growth of populist forces across the continent. But the current populist parties challenge the traditional parties when it comes to the sovereignty dimension， and the anti-EU nature of the populist parties magnifies the issues inherent in western democracies， which has not only a tearing effect on domestic politics， but also a severe negative effect on European integration. But on the other hand， Brexit may bring new opportunities for cooperation among other developing countries.

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