UNI Europa position on Brexit
On 23 June 2016, 51.9% of the British electorate voted in the EU Referendum for the UK to leave the European Union. The narrow but decisive result was seen as a cry of disillusionment and anger from large swathes of the population who felt left behind by globalisation and ignored by what they perceived as an intrusive and undemocratic EU bureaucracy. Immigration, free movement of EU workers and jobs were key issues. UK trade unions were generally supportive of the remain campaign, arguing that unscrupulous employers, rather than free movement, are the cause of job insecurity and social dumping. They are in favour of maintaining the closest possible relationship with the EU, notably as regards EU employment and social rights and access to the Single Market, upon which so many jobs depend.
Article 50
The referendum result itself is not legally binding, and in order officially to begin the process of leaving the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May must trigger the Member State withdrawal process, as laid down in Article 50 of the EU Treaty. Once the Brexit negotiations are formally launched, the UK will have a maximum of two years in which to reach an agreement with the remaining 27 EU Member States. Any extension to the talks would require unanimous approval and if an agreement cannot be reached and negotiations are not extended, the UK’s EU membership will automatically lapse after that period. A withdrawal agreement would also need to be approved by a qualified majority in the European Council and ratified by the European Parliament. Frustration is building in the UK and the rest of Europe at Theresa May’s continued lack of detail and clarity on what the UK’s negotiating strategy will be or when precisely Article 50 will be triggered. Theresa May has stated only that the process will be formally launched by the end of March 2017. Many EU leaders had called on the UK to trigger the negotiations straightaway and have vowed not to enter into any formal or informal discussions with the British government until then.
UK Parliament
What is also still unclear is whether members of the British parliament will be able to vote to invoke the triggering of the exit process, on any final agreement reached or to revoke Article 50 altogether. On 3 November, Britain’s High Court ruled that parliamentary approval is necessary before any EU withdrawal procedures can be launched and EU rights potentially removed from UK law. The government is contesting the decision, which will now go to the Supreme Court in December. The Labour Party has called for parliamentary accountability on Brexit and has warned of the dangerous constitutional precedent that such a circumvention of a parliamentary vote could set. The British parliament will certainly be given a vote on the ‘Great Repeal Act’, which aims to transpose EU legislation into UK law, and then amend and repeal it as the government sees fit. EU posted worker and temporary agency worker rules are already targets and many crucial EU social and employment rights and health and safety protections are also at risk. Trade unions are vocally campaigning to retain EU employment and social law.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
The referendum result also called into question the future of the United Kingdom itself, with a majority in both Scotland and Northern Ireland voting to remain in the EU. The Scottish Parliament wants full involvement in the negotiations and there is talk of proposing a second independence referendum. There are serious concerns about re-introducing a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic and on Brexit’s impact on the 1998 peace agreement that helped end sectarian violence between north and south, and which the EU played an active role in facilitating.
What future relationship for the UK and the EU?
The Norwegian or Swiss models have both been mentioned as possible options for a ‘soft’ Brexit, as these would allow the UK to retain access to the EU’s Single Market and thereby safeguard existing jobs and social and employment rights. These options are looking increasingly unlikely, however, as they would also require the UK to continue to accept EU free movement rules – which was one of the main points of contention during the referendum campaign. EU leaders have categorically ruled out the UK remaining in the Single Market whilst opting out of free movement rules, and are adamant that Britain cannot have a better deal out of the European Union, for fear of unravelling the EU project and of stoking populist / independence movements within other Member States. This would leave the British government with a ‘hard’ Brexit option – heavily hinted at during the recent Conservative Party Conference – based on exclusion from the Single Market and its free movement rules, dependency on WTO norms and tariffs and only the distant prospect of bilateral free trade agreements with American and Asian countries rather than with the EU. A hard Brexit would be catastrophic for British jobs, growth and the economy.
Impact on EWCs
Brexit also risks impacting the work and membership of European Works Councils (EWCs). If the UK were to become a member of the European Economic Area, the EWC Directive would continue to apply both to British EWC members and to EWCs of companies with a UK headquarter. If a looser relationship is chosen, however, the agreement reached with the EU would not necessarily include legislation on EWCs and the decision for UK companies to maintain their EWC, set up a new one or allow British representatives to continue to sit on one would be entirely up to each multinational / its UK subsidiary. Some companies may also no longer meet the threshold criteria to have an EWC once the British workforce is no longer considered ‘EU’.
Position of UNI Europa
UNI Europa, together with the European trade union movement, opposed Brexit, and we are now standing in solidarity with our British colleagues to ensure the best possible deal for workers, notably in terms of retaining EU employment and social rights and free movement of labour. The objective must be to minimise the negative consequences for workers in Britain and elsewhere across Europe. At the same time, access to the EU’s Single Market must be conditional on commonly applied rules that protect workers’ rights, along with the continued guarantee of freedom of movement.