The United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community in 1973. This body, also known as the «common market,» was the forerunner of the current European Union, which entered into force in November 1993, through a treaty that established its headquarters in Brussels.
The European Union has managed to develop a unique political and legal system in the world, which, with successes and errors, has facilitated the multilateral cooperation of its member states.
The European Union functions as a kind of community of governments, represented in a European Parliament, under which the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Central Bank was established, among other bodies.
Said model of a political and commercial organization has governed by the treaty signed by the member states. That would be, in legal terms, its constitution.
In the 1975 UK referendum, 67% voted in favor of remaining in the so-called «European common market.» At that time, the leading promoters of breaking this commercial relationship in the United Kingdom were the British political left.
In 2016, a majority vote (51.9%) in favor of the United Kingdom left the European Union – the so-called «Brexit.» On this occasion, the proposal was promoted, mainly, by political sectors of the British right.
As a consequence of the result of the 2016 referendum, the British government invoked article 50 of the Treaty of the European Union, starting a negotiation process of its withdrawal from the community of European states. After multiple negotiations, most British people have questioned whether they have made a correct decision; on Sunday, December 13, the deadline to define the exit agreement expires.
Will they find a way to extend the period of negotiations? It seems that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, will agree to extend the negotiations for a few additional days to avoid a «Brexit» without a parachute for the British.
The decisive moment is coming for the British, and they see themselves on the edge of a precipice towards which they decided to walk. Regardless of what they may agree to in the last phase of the negotiations in Brussels, on January 1, 2021, they will start a new chapter in UK history, this time outside the European Union.
The immediate economic effects are not favorable for the British. This situación has anticipated a period of political and social instability in the United Kingdom, a complex society that in its evolution could also choose to reject the continuity of its questioned monarchy.