After Brexit vote: How will UK continue?

In her speech, May has issued a 12-point plan for the government to negotiate a Brexit agreement with the EU. This also includes the announcement that Britain will leave both the EU single market and the customs union. In the run-up to this approach, this concept had been called ‘hard Brexit’, i.e. first cutting off all previous agreements on trade and economy, then negotiating new ones.

How trade relations between Europe and Great Britain will continue wasn't part of the speech, as the positions of other EU member states will play a significant role here. At the same time, May adviced against denouncing the British for their decision, which would in return ultimately harm the EU itself.

British Economy Is Strong Enough

“Important sectors of the EU economy would also suffer. We are a crucial – profitable – export market for Europe’s automotive industry, as well as sectors including energy, food and drink, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. These sectors employ millions of people around Europe. And I do not believe that the EU’s leaders will seriously tell German exporters, French farmers, Spanish fishermen, the young unemployed of the Eurozone, and millions of others, that they want to make them poorer, just to punish Britain and make a political point,“ outlined May (pictured right, image: UK Home Office) the position of the British government.

She continued: “From space exploration to clean energy to medical technologies, Britain will remain at the forefront of collective endeavours to better understand and make better the world in which we live.”

Industry Calls For Clarity

Nevertheless, her announcement has caused much discomfort in the energy sector. Dr. Nina Skorupska CBE, Chief Executive at the Renewable Energy Association (REA) has expressed her skepticism. While stressing that the UK has a strong expertise in some areas such as energy storage, electric vehicles and bioenergy, she also warns: “The industry needs clarity on the long term vision and government ambition in these areas.”

However, on the energy sector, the EU and Great Britain are so closely intertwined that it will be difficult to carry out a separation. “Every company in every sector wants a smooth, orderly and clear transition, yet the repercussions in this area are so wide ranging it has to be a top priority for the Prime Minister and her Government.”

"Many of the laws that keep our bathing waters clean and control dangerous air pollution and toxic chemicals come from the EU. Without EU laws and courts to underpin and enforce them, they could be left at the mercy of ministers who may ignore them and scrap them with a stroke of the pen,” said Rosie Rogers of Greenpeace UK at Business Green.

European Investment Is At Stake

How economy will ultimately react to the Brexit will strongly depend on how the exit plan will look exactly. Nevertheless, EU politicians have hurried to make it clear to the British that harsh cuts will be coming to them. For example, foreign business chief of the German Industry and Trade Association DIHK Volker Treier told reporters of the WirtschaftsWoche that "the economic attractiveness of the island" will suffer when Great Britain leaves the EU single market and has announced that German companies will be no longer investing that much in the UK.

German wind turbine manufacturer Siemens had certainly hoped for another outcome of the Brexit vote. However, the investment decision in favor of the construction of a factory in Hull (pictured left, image: Siemens) took place before the vote on the EU exit. The exact impact on wind energy markets is not yet foreseeable, but a new danger from Scotland appears. There, the population voted overwhelmingly for staying in the EU.

Scotland Pushes For The Ballot Box Again

Scotland, where a large part of the British Isles' wind power is generated, might soon have another round at the ballot boxes – to decide whether it will become independent of the rest of the United Kingdom to remain in the EU. This was indicated by First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon in a statement on Facebook without voicing the term 'referendum' clearly though: “It seems the Westminster Tory Government now think they can do anything to Scotland and get away with it. They must start to understand how wrong they are. The UK Government cannot be allowed to take us out of the EU and the single market, regardless of the impact on our economy, jobs, living standards and our reputation as an open, tolerant country, without Scotland having the ability to choose between that and a different future.“

Although a majority of Scots rejected the exit from the United Kingdom in 2014, however, the mood could now change. (Image: 'No thanks' campaign ~ Creative Commons)

RenewableUK chairman Emma Pinchbeck emphasized in her commentary on Theresa May's speech that “the UK is the global leader in offshore wind as well as wave and tidal energy“ and that they are „well placed to attract investment and to export renewable energy kit to every corner of the world“. But the loss of Scotland in the energy sector would be another blow to the United Kingdom.

Ultimately, May's speech only made one thing clear: There will be drastic changes in Great Britain. Whether the country will now benefit in foreign trade as much as the Brexit supporters advocated for, is questionable though. Germany's example on the other hand shows quite clearly that being world champion in exports and an EU member is not mutually exclusive.