Flexcit
Flexcit is the name of a policy which involves gradual British disengagement from the European Union.[1] Its original author and main proponent is Richard A. E. North. It was the official policy of Arron Banks' Leave.EU campaign, although that campaign did not get official recognition. At the date of the referendum, Flexcit was the most comprehensive plan that anyone had proposed for withdrawal, and hence became a point of reference for civil servants.[2]
Summary[edit]
The central idea behind Flexcit was to see exit from the EU as "a process rather than an event", and it advocated a staged withdrawal[3] - looking first at the Norway option of membership of the European Economic Area[4] and a phased repatriation of powers and improved trading relationships. This has meant that it has been described as "Brexit lite".[5] A central point of the policy is that a number of regulatory functions carried out by the European Union actually originate in international bodies such as the International Standards Organization and that the UK would need to still retain membership of these bodies, although with independent membership so although international regulations are kept there is greater British involvement in the drafting.
History[edit]
North was one of seventeen shortlisted entrants invited to submit a full submission to the Institute of Economic Affairs's 2013 Brexit Prize competition. Entrants were asked to imagine an 'out' vote in a proposed referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union and asked to compose a blueprint for the process of withdrawal, taking account of Britain's relationship to global governance and trade systems.[6] His submission, 'FLexCit', proposed that Britain should rejoin the European Free Trade Association via membership of the European Economic Area. Under the proposal, Britain would initially adopt the community acquis of the European Union, the accumulated legislation, legal acts, and court decisions which constitute the body of European Union law. North argues that under this approach to EU exit there would be very little visible consequence of Britain's change in status, either for the better or the worse. Further renegotiation of trade and governance would become a longer term option.[7] Though not a finalist in the contest, North continues to develop the Flexcit plan in cooperation with readers of the EUReferendum blog, and others.
Criticism[edit]
Responding to a question during live Q&A by a member of the public on Reddit, the Jean Monnet Chair of EU Law at the University of Livepool Michael Dougan noted that North's "academic work on EU law" was not known to him as it was not published in the mainstream international peer reviewed journals for the field of European legal studies. Dougan suggested further that it does not meet the "internationally recognised" standards for the discipline.[8]
References[edit]
- ↑ http://eureferendum.com/themarketsolution.pdf
- ↑ "PM resigns as Britain votes to leave EU". The Register. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
- ↑ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/01/17/why_mays_hard_brexit_might_be_soft_than_you_think/
- ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/06/01/leave-camp-must-accept-that-norway-model-is-the-only-safe-way-to/
- ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/07/26/please-lets-not-take-the-monetary-sledgehammer-to-the-nut-of-bri/
- ↑ "IEA announces Brexit Prize shortlist". iea.org.uk. 31 October 2013.
- ↑ Richard North, (8 April 2014). "Flexcit: how we would actually leave the EU". eureferendum.com.
- ↑ "We are a group of EU Law legal experts researching Brexit. Ask us Anything. • r/IAmA". reddit. Retrieved 2017-05-21."No, we're not aware of North's academic work on EU law: it does not appear to be published in the mainstream international peer reviewed journals for the field of European legal studies (though do feel free to point us in the right direction, if we have missed something out here). We tend to work with materials meeting the proper standards for academic research, which are internationally recognised for our discipline. As for your reference to the referendum debate in the 1970s, we are not sure what point you are making here. E.g. Are you suggesting that, because you feel someone was dishonest 50 years ago, it can absolve others of responsibility for being dishonest now?"
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