CD204: Why Brexit the EU?

The European Union is a partnership of 28 countries that the United Kingdom has been trying to escape from since 2016. In this episode, we examine the European Union in order to understand the decision the citizens of the UK were asked to make and learn why the United States has become a theme in the Brexit debate.

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Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes

CD201: WTF is the Federal Reserve?

CD102: The World Trade Organization: COOL?

CD096: Fast Tracking Fast Track (Trade Promotion Authority)

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Articles/Documents

• Article: Jean-Claude Juncker shouted 'I AM THE EU' at Donald Trump during White House meeting By Simon Osborne, Express, November 4, 2019
• Article: The Money Farmers: How Oligarchs and Populists Milk the E.U. for Millions By By Selam Gebrekidan, Matt Apuzzo and Benjamin Novak, The New York Times, November 3, 2019
• Article: EU Fury: Why Ursula von der Leyen's appointment 'ignored recommendation from MEPs' By Abbie Llewelyn, Express, November 1, 2019
• Article: Georgieva’s brave new agenda at IMF threatened by economic storm clouds By Phillip Inman, The Guardian, October 12, 2019
• Article: No Chance of Croatian Schengen Entry for at Least Two More Years By Lauren Simmonds, Total Croatia News, September 29, 2019
• Article: EU institutions: how are the top jobs allocated? By David Klemperer, Institute for Government, September 13, 2019
• Document: The European Union: Questions and Answers Congressional Research Service Report, September 9, 2019
• Article: Brexit: What is the 'no deal' WTO option? by Chris Morris, BBC News, July 29, 2019
• Article: Who is Ursula von der Leyen, the new European Commission president? by Christoph Strack, DW, July 16, 2019
• Article: What are the top EU jobs and who decides on them? by Jane Mcintosh, DW, June 21, 2019
• Article: The European Union Is an Antidemocratic Disgrace by Thomas Fazi, Jacobin, May 23, 2019
• Article: Market Economy By Jim Chappelow, Investopedia, May 15, 2019
• Article: Chlorinated chicken: How safe is it? by Rachel Schraer & Tom Edgington, BBC News, March 5, 2019
• Article: WTO rules: What happens if there's a no-deal Brexit? by John Campbell, BBC News, January 16, 2019
• Article: Thomas Fazi and William Mitchell – The EU cannot be democratised – here’s why By Rebecca Beitsch, Brave New Europe, February 8, 2018
• Article: Quashing Consumers' Right-To-Know, Congress Repeals Country-Of-Origin-Labeling For Beef And Pork By Nancy Fink Huehnergarth, Forbes, December 21, 2015
• Document: Removal of Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling Requirements for Beef and Pork Muscle Cuts, Ground Beef, and Ground Pork - Document No. AMS-LPS-16-0002 By Elanor Starmer, Agricultural Marketing Service

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Additional Resources

• Documentary: The Truth About Chlorinated Chicken, Directed by Itamar Klasmer, Starring Kate Quilton, Amazon Video, 2019
• Brexit – An Explanation of the Key Issues Bill Track 50
• Dispute Settlement: DS548: United States — Certain Measures on Steel and Aluminium Products, World Trade Organization
• Dispute Settlement: DS85: United States — Measures Affecting Textiles and Apparel Products, World Trade Organization
• Index: UNDERSTANDING THE WTO: THE ORGANIZATION - Members and Observers, World Trade Organization, October 24, 2019
• Index: Salmonella, CDC
• How Much Will ETIAS Cost? ETIAS NEWS
• ETIAS VISA WAIVER FOR AMERICANS:EUROPE'S TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION FOR U.S. CITIZENS ETIAS NEWS
• The European Council European Council - Council of the European Union
• Political leadership European Commission
• Towards a new Commission European Commission
• Christine Lagarde appointed President of the European Central Bank European Commission
• How the Commission is organised European Commission
• Index: Members of the European Parliament European Parliment
• Index: About Parliament: Supervisory powers European Parliment
• Index: How are members of the European Parliament elected? European Parliment
• Press Release: Final turnout data for 2019 European elections announced European Parliment, October 29, 2019
• The EU in brief European Union
• EU Budget European Union
• How the EU Budget is spent European Union
• Funding NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• The European Union and the WTO World Trade Organization

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Sound Clip Sources

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Parliment Meeting: House Of Lords, Parlimentlive.tv, October 19, 2019

Speakers:

• Lord Newby
• Reid of Cardigan
• Baroness Ludford
• Lord Rooker

Transcript:

10:33:00 Lord Newby: My Lords, and your Lordship's house is sitting on a Saturday today for the first time since 1983, and only the fourth time in 80 years. These occasions have typically been to debate a serious foreign threat to the vital interests of the United Kingdom, the outbreak of the second world war, Suez, the Falklands. Today we sit on a Saturday to try to resolve a serious internal threat to the unity and future of the conservative party. There is no reason other than the prime minister's macho commitment to leave the EU by the 31st of October for the government's decision to recall parliament today. Such a timetable is a complete abuse of the parliamentary process. It doesn't allow the appropriate impact assessments to be made, it doesn't allow the relevant select committees to consider the proposals, and it doesn't allow the commons in your Lordship's house to give proper consideration to the withdrawal bill. It barely gives us time to read and compare the documents. The withdrawal agreement itself, some 535 pages, was available for the first time from Nobel -- to pick up from the printer paper office just this morning. And so we certainly have not had time to identify and work out what some of the changes mean. For example, the sections in the political declaration on dispute settlement and the forward process had been substantially rewritten. Why? Parliament today is being asked to approve these changes with no effective ability to question the ministers on them. It is a disgrace.

10:39:00 Lord Newby; And the impact on the union with Scotland is also clear. Northern Ireland will have freer access to EU markets than Scotland. Scotland, understandably, we want the same, and the only way they can get it is by independence. This deal is a further recruiting Sergeant for the --

11:07:00 Reid of Cardigan: And to those who say, but we can rely on our allies bailing as out economically, I didn't know --, particularly the president of the United States, because he's a reliable man -- once. I suggest you have a word with the Kurds and see whether you want to reflect upon them.

11:14:00 Baroness Ludford: No -- the leader spoke of the wonderful perspective of international trade deals. President Trump has just imposed a 25% tariff on imports of single malt whiskey. Smaller independent whiskey producers face having their quote "feet taken out from under them", said one. Compare this with how the EU has used its clout to leave open markets in Asia for scotch whiskey that were previously heavily protected by tariff walls. We cannot trust president Trump.

12:02:15 Lord Rooker: The push for a free trade agreement with America, the food poisoning capital of the West, where food poisoning rates are 10 times in the UK per head of population, will have consequences. And on a very minor point of detail, I realize that, research published in the UK only last year proves that chlorine washing of food does not kill all the bugs. And that's the microbiology society. And given the United States of America has over 400 people a year die of salmonella compared to none here, it seems to be the case we're heading for very serious consequences of life and death.

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Parliment Meeting: House Of Commons, Parlimentlive.tv, October 19, 2019

Speakers:

• Boris Johnson
• Jeremy Corbyn
• Kier Starmer

Transcript:

9:49:00 Boris Johnson: Speaker: I have complete faith in this house to choose regulations that are in our best tradition of the highest standard -- of the highest standards of environmental protections and workers' rights. No one, no one anywhere in this chamber believes in lowering standards. Instead, the loss of gesticulation, the statement by the prime minister, must be heard, and it will be. The prime minister -- no one believes in lowering standards; instead we believe in improving them, as indeed we will be able to do, as we will be able to do, and seizing the opportunities of our new, freedoms, for example, free from the common agricultural policy. We will have a far simpler system where we will reward farmers for improving our environment and animal welfare. Many of whose provisions are impossible under the counter agents. Instead of just paying them for their acreage and free from the common fisheries policy, we can ensure sustainable yields based on the latest science, not outdated methods of setting quotas. And these restored powers will be available not simply to this government, but to every future British government of any party to use as they see fit. That is what restoring sovereignty means. That is what was meant in practice by taking back control of our destiny.

9:59:00 Jeremy Corbyn: This deal, Mr. Speaker, what inevitably and absolutely inevitably lead to a Trump trade deal, forcing the UK, forcing the UK to diverge from the highest standards and expose our families once again to chlorine washed chicken and hormone treated beef.

10:02:00 Jeremy Corbyn: And if anyone had any doubts about this, we only have to listen to what their own honorable members have been saying. Like the one yesterday who rather let the cat out of the bag saying members should back this deal, as it means we can leave with no deal by 2020. The cat has truly got out of the bag. So can the Prime Minister confirm whether this is the case and that if a free trade agreement has not been done, it would mean Britain falling on to world trade organization terms by December next year with only Northern Ireland having preferential access to the EU market? No wonder the foreign secretary said this represents, and I quote, "a cracking deal for Northern Ireland." They would retain frictionless access to the single market. It does beg the question, Mr. Speaker, why can't the rest of the UK get a cracking deal by maintaining access to the single market?

12:30:00 Kier Starmer: But it's obvious where it leads because once you've diverged, once you've moved out of alignment with the EU, trade becomes more difficult. I will just finish the point, trade becomes more difficult and the EU is not seen any longer as our priority in trade and the gaze goes elsewhere to make up. I'll finish this point, if I may, I will finish this point. Because once you've moved out of alignment, you don't move back. And the further you may move out, the less easy it is to trade with the EU 27. And once you've done that, you've broken the economic model we've been operating for decades. And once you've done that, you look elsewhere. Once you've done that, you look across to the United States. I will finish this point and then I'll give way. The gaze goes across to the US and that's a different economic model. It's not just another country, it's a different economic model, a deregulated model. In the US, 10 days is the holiday entitlement. Many, many contracts at work, I'll pull contracts at will. Hugely powerful corporate bodies have far more power than the workforce. So this is a political direction of travel, not a technical decision on the EU, that takes us to a different economic model, one of deregulation, one of low standards, one where the balance between the workforce and corporate bodies gets far worse than it is now.

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Interview: Christine Lagarde: The "60 Minutes" interview, CBS NEWS, October 20, 2019

Interview:

• John Dickerson - Interviewer
• Christine Lagarde

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Cover Art

Design by Only Child Imaginations

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Music Presented in This Episode

Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)