p point the commonwealth and Brexit.pptx

p point the commonwealth and Brexit.pptx

1. ESTUDIOS SOCIOCULTURALES Y LITERARIOS Commonwealth & Brexit Prof. Agustina Rivera

2. About Commonwealth The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal countries. It is home to 2.4 billion people, and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. 32 of our members are small states, including many island nations. Member governments have agreed to shared goals like development, democracy and peace. The values and principles are expressed in the Commonwealth Charter. The Commonwealth's roots go back to the British Empire. But today any country can join the modern Commonwealth. The last country to join the Commonwealth was Rwanda in 2009.

3. 54 countries

4. The early Commonwealth Over time different countries of the British Empire gained different levels of freedom from Britain. Semi-independent countries were called Dominions. Leaders of the Dominions attended conferences with Britain from 1887. The 1926 Imperial Conference was attended by the leaders of Australia, Canada, India, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand and South Africa. At the 1926 conference Britain and the Dominions agreed that they were all equal members of a community within the British Empire. They all owed allegiance to the British king or queen, but the United Kingdom did not rule over them. This community was called the British Commonwealth of Nations or just the Commonwealth.

5. Birth of the modern Commonwealth The Dominions and other territories of the British Empire gradually became fully independent of the United Kingdom. India became independent in 1947. India wanted to become a republic which didn't owe allegiance to the British king or queen, but it also wanted to stay a member of the Commonwealth. At a Commonwealth Prime Ministers meeting in London in 1949, the London Declaration said that republics and other countries could be part of the Commonwealth. The modern Commonwealth of Nations was born. King George VI was the first Head of the Commonwealth, and Queen Elizabeth II became Head when he died. But the British king or queen is not automatically Head of the Commonwealth. Commonwealth member countries choose who becomes Head of the Commonwealth.

6. Purpose of the Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations is not a political organization. Queen Elizabeth II is also head of state of 16 Commonwealth countries, referred to as Commonwealth realms. Canada and Australia are two of the largest realms. A Secretary General manages the day-to-day matters of the Commonwealth of Nations. However, the United Kingdom or the Secretary General does not have any direct or indirect control over these countries. In fact, almost all the 53 members are independent countries with their own governments. These countries have come together to form an association with some common aims. Such common aims include: To increase economic cooperation among the member countries. To encourage democracy in the member countries. To ensure that member countries follow human rights.

7. Interesting facts about Commonwealth ☺

8. It's home to almost one-third of the world's population About 2.4 billion people - out of 7.4 billion globally - live in the Commonwealth's 53 countries. And most of them are under the age of 30. The biggest country by population is India, which accounts for about half of the total. But 31 Commonwealth members have a population of 1.5 million people or fewer.

9. Some members were never part of the British Empire Rwanda and Mozambique became members in 2009 and 1995 respectively, and neither has a British colonial past or constitutional link. The club has lost members in the past. Robert Mugabe took Zimbabwe out in 2003 after its membership was suspended amid reports of election rigging. Pakistan was suspended after a military coup in 1999 and was re-admitted four-and-a-half years later. And South Africa withdrew in 1961 after it was criticised by Commonwealth members for its apartheid policies. It became a member again in 1994. The last country to leave was the Maldives in 2016.

10. The Queen is head of state in only 16 of the countries

11. The UK still has the biggest Commonwealth economy… just

12. There's more than one commonwealth Don't forget the International Organisation of La Francophonie - a group of French-speaking countries. And there's the Commonwealth of Independent States, which was set up in 1991 by former members of the Soviet Union.

13. British Exit - BREXIT Brexit was the nickname for "British exit" from the EU, the economic and policy union that the U.K. had been a member of since 1973. That changed on June 23, 2016, when the U.K. voted to leave the EU.4 The residents decided that the benefits of free trade weren't enough to offset the costs of free movement of immigration. The vote was 17.4 million in favor of leaving versus 16.1 million who voted to remain.

14. What caused Brexit? In 2015, the Conservative Party called for the referendum. Most of the pro-Brexit voters were older, working-class residents of England's countryside. They were afraid of the free movement of immigrants and refugees, claiming in the process that citizens of poorer countries were taking jobs and benefits. Small businesses were also frustrated by EU fees. Others felt leaving the EU would create jobs. Many felt the U.K. paid more into the EU than it received. Those who voted to stay in the EU primarily lived in London, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. They liked free trade with the EU, and claimed most EU immigrants were young and eager to work. Most felt that leaving the EU would damage the U.K.’s global status.

15. Brexit process Leaving the EU was a complicated process. Former U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, following the voters' will, submitted the Article 50 withdrawal notification to the EU on March 29, 2017. She negotiated a withdrawal agreement with the EU that outlined their new relationship but couldn't get approval from a divided Parliament. In July 2019, Boris Johnson succeeded May as the U.K.'s Prime Minister. Johnson’s Conservative party subsequently attained a majority during a royally mandated general election on Dec. 12, 2019. That allowed him to get Parliament's approval of the Withdrawal Agreement he negotiated with the EU. On Jan. 23, 2020, the Agreement Act received the necessary legislative Royal Assent, which is when the Queen formally agrees to make the bill into law.117 The U.K. formally left the EU on Jan. 31, 2020, but entered a transition process that ended on Dec. 31, 2020. The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement was agreed to on Dec. 24, 2020 (and signed on Dec. 30).

16. How Did Brexit Impact the UK?

17. Growth Brexit's biggest disadvantage is its damage to the U.K.'s economic growth. Most of this has been due to the uncertainty surrounding the final outcome. Uncertainty over Brexit slowed the U.K.'s growth from 2.4% in 2015 to 1.0% in 2019. The U.K. government estimated that Brexit would lower the U.K.’s growth by up to 6.7% over 15 years. It assumed the current terms of free trade but restricted immigration. The British pound fell from $1.48 on the day of the referendum to $1.36 the next day. That helps exports but increases the prices of imports. It has not regained its pre-Brexit high.

18. Jobs Brexit hurts Britain's younger workers. Germany is projected to have a labor shortage of 3 million skilled workers by 2030. Those jobs won't be as readily available to the U.K.'s workers after Brexit. Employers are having a harder time finding applicants. One reason is that EU-born workers left the U.K., their numbers falling by 95% in 2017. This has hit the low-skilled and medium-skilled occupations the most.

19. Ireland Northern Ireland remains with the U.K. The Republic of Ireland, with which it shares a border, stays a part of the EU. The agreement avoids a customs border between the two Irish countries. A customs border could have reignited The Troubles, which was a 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland between mainly Catholic Irish nationalists and pro-British Protestants.  In 1998, it ended with the promise of no border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. A customs border would have forced about 9,300 commuters to go through customs on their way to and from work and school.

20. Scotland Scotland voted against Brexit. The Scottish government believed that staying in the EU was the best for Scotland and the U.K. It had been pushing the U.K. government to allow for a second referendum. To leave the U.K., Scotland would have to call a referendum on independence. It could then apply for EU membership on its own.

21. The Brexit Vote In summary, the Brexit vote imposed these three hard choices on the U.K.: 1. Leave with no deal, known as "no-deal Brexit." Without a trade agreement, ports would be blocked and airlines grounded. In no time, imported food and drugs would run short. 2. Vote again on Brexit. Many argue that voters did not understand the economic hardships that Brexit would impose. On Dec. 10, 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that the U.K. could unilaterally revoke its Brexit application to remain in the EU. 3. Approve a negotiated deal. The sticking point had been the nature of the border between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and the EU’s Republic of Ireland.

22. How Did Brexit Impact the EU? Brexit is a vote against globalization. As a result, it has weakened forces in the EU that favor integration.  Members of right-wing, anti-immigration parties are particularly anti-EU in France and Germany. If they gained enough ground, they could force an anti-EU vote. If either of those countries left, the EU would lose its most robust economies and would dissolve. On the other hand, the majority of EU citizens still strongly support the union. In a Pew Research Center survey across 10 European nations, almost 75% say the EU promotes peace, and 55% believe it supports prosperity. In addition, more than a third see the role of the U.K. as diminishing.