Ten years ago, a campaign marked by half-truths and lies ended with a vote for Britain to leave the EU. The result caught London unprepared for the consequences. That day changed Europe.
Exactly 10 years ago, the referendum on leaving the European Union (EU) was held in Britain. Early the next morning, when the result was announced, many were surprised, recalls the German public media ARD. The then President of the European Commission (EC) Jean-Claude Juncker had even bet with the British Commissioner Jonathan Hill that the British would vote to leave the Community. He had bet one euro, and Hill one pound. He believed that his compatriots would vote to remain in the EU. "I still hold the pound, and he never held the euro in his hands", Juncker says today.
Decades of abuse against the EU
"This result was no surprise, after all the governments in London for 40 years had nothing good to say about the EU", says the former head of the EC. In this regard, he recalls that London has always perceived the EU only as an economic area, as a market. "Everything else never really interested the British. They considered it romantic nonsense", ARD quotes Juncker as saying.
The United Kingdom never wanted the euro, and with every further step towards integration, London always closed the door. This fundamentally skeptical attitude towards the EU was fertile ground for the campaign of the "Brexitists", led by the right-wing populist Nigel Farage and the future Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the Conservative Party of Tories. Take back control - that was Johnson's slogan - the British had to regain control of their own affairs. The promise was that migration would decrease. And that the London government could invest the money that was pouring down the throat of the EU in the National Health Service - the British health care system.
None of this happened. Half-truths and sometimes even lies marked the campaign, the ARD further points out.
Should Brussels have intervened?
The campaign of supporters of remaining in the EU, on the other hand, was characterized by economic and rational arguments. Models were presented calculating the potential cost of Brexit. Martin Schulz, then president of the European Parliament, said that he, Juncker and then president of the European Council Donald Tusk discussed whether they should actively intervene and attend events during the campaign in the UK. But they were advised not to.
The referendum was followed by years of difficult negotiations over the separation process. Juncker, who led the negotiations on behalf of the Commission, argued that the EU was prepared for withdrawal, while London - not. "The British negotiating team was amazed by every question we asked and every proposal we made, because they had no idea what this would ultimately lead to."
Slow rapprochement
The UK and the EU have since concluded not only an exit agreement (of Britain from the EU – ed. note), but also a 1,200-page Trade and Cooperation Agreement. There are many areas in which Europeans and Britons rely on each other: security and defence, migration and economic cooperation.
It was recently announced that the UK will rejoin the Erasmus+ programme. This is expected to happen in 2027, which is a huge success for David McAllister – a member of the European Parliament (from the German CDU). He himself has dual German-British citizenship, and led the negotiations. The former prime minister of Lower Saxony grew up in the British sector of West Berlin. He believes that the Brexit referendum has shown what political charlatans are capable of: "Nothing they promised was subsequently fulfilled".
The ARD quotes British journalist Geoff Meade as saying that many Britons still see no benefit from Brexit. He told the German media that he now has to pay around 170 pounds every time he takes his dog from England to Brussels, which he accepts with a sense of humor.
Will the United Kingdom ever become a member of the EU again? This could happen in ten to 15 years at the earliest. And Juncker, Schulz and McAllister are even more skeptical about this, the German public media also writes.