a reply to:
Argyll
theintercept.com...
British Exit From EU Not Inevitable, Despite Referendum
In the first hours after the British public voted to exit the European Union, amid all sorts of triumphal statements and recriminations, one
declaration was notably absent: the formal notification to the EU that the United Kingdom intends to leave the organization, which is required to
start the clock on negotiations for a departure.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the failed campaign to convince voters to stay in the EU, told the public that an exit would not happen soon, as
he intended to resign in three months and leave it to his successor to decide “when to trigger Article 50″ of the union’s basic agreement, the
Lisbon Treaty, which says that a member state has two years after declaring its desire to leave to negotiate the terms of its exit.
“In voting to leave the EU, it is vital to stress that there is no need for haste,” Johnson said, “and indeed, as the prime minister has just
said, nothing will change over the short term, except that work will have to begin on how to give effect to the will of the people and to extricate
this country from the supranational system.”
Given that the popular mandate his side had just won was summed up in a single word on the backdrop behind him, “Leave,” it seemed odd that
Johnson made no mention of the fastest way to get that process started, by pressing for an immediate Article 50 declaration.
That fact did not escape observers in other parts of Europe, like the former foreign minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt.
The reason could be that Johnson has something very different in mind: a negotiated compromise that would preserve most of the benefits of EU
membership for British citizens and businesses but still satisfy the popular will to escape the attendant responsibilities and costs.
Turns out the referendum is, more or less, a request from the people for the UK government to consider pulling out of the EU but is not an ironclad
mandate.
edit on 25-6-2016 by CharlesT because: (no reason given)
edit on 25-6-2016 by CharlesT because: forgot article title