this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2026
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Europe

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[–] likebudda@reddthat.com 3 points 2 hours ago

Why won't Russian disinformation work this time around in Britain? Donald got reelected after all.

[–] CovertOperative@piefed.zip 24 points 23 hours ago (2 children)
[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 18 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Brenetration. Without Bretexion.

[–] killingspark@feddit.org 6 points 11 hours ago

As soon as the EU and UK start Brexting it's all over

[–] huppakee@lemmy.world 9 points 14 hours ago

They have to press breset first.

[–] ExtraJudgement@lemmy.world 58 points 1 day ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (3 children)

I'm all for constructive cooperation moving forward, as long as the UK never gets its special privileges back.

[–] Maram@lemmy.world -4 points 9 hours ago (4 children)

I don’t get why people are saying there should be a punishment.

The EU is saying that participation is voluntary, but making the idea that leaving for a bit, just to realise it was wrong, and then to be punished for it to rejoin, feels less voluntary and more you better do what we say or there will be consequences. The idea that it is to deter other countries that aren’t fully in is stupid too. Why not just let them leave and then realise it’s wrong when it happens and come back?

Like if a family member that I know and love hurts me and leaves, I’d eventually welcome them back and let bygones be bygones, because we are a team. But if it’s some coworker I don’t care about, I’d want to be made right for the troubles.

If the idea of the EU is to be a coalition of allies, why are people thinking of punishing bad behaviour as opposed to rewarding learning and improving behaviour?

I may seem bias because I am from the UK, but I have always been a remainer and I would feel the same if France or Spain or whatever left instead, or if they do in the future.

It’s good to let the leavers feel a taste of how bad it is to do it, but joining should always be a good thing and not a punishment.

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 4 points 1 hour ago

Nobody outside UK cares about the colour of the passport, the Sterling or their non-metric measurements. As far as I'm concerned they can keep all that garbage.

UK however had some privileges in accepting EU legislation as they saw fit. All the while being a net receiver of EU funding. That just doesn't add up.

This special treatment is exactly what caused Brexit to begin with. UK was never really all in on EU.

If they want to rejoin, they'd better be all in on collaboration with EU, instead of cherry picking as they were before.

[–] iglou@programming.dev 11 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

Those privileges are not a right granted to members of the EU. They abandonned those privileges when they left.

Joining back should start at the same baseline as any other country negotiating an entry to the EU. If they want their privileges back, the EU should get something for it in exchange, like any decent negociation. The UK is not in the position of strength that made those one-sided privileges possible when they joined.

[–] ExtraJudgement@lemmy.world 6 points 6 hours ago

I don’t get why people are saying there should be a punishment.

Being treated exactly like every other country outside the EU is not a punishment. A punishment would be demanding reparations for the damages the UK inflicted with Brexit, which you'll note neither me nor anybody else here I could see asked for.

[...] Why not just let them leave and then realise it’s wrong when it happens and come back?

This is what that looks like: Accept the same terms as anybody else or don't join. There are plenty of ways to have constructive cooperations without the UK joining the EU.

Like if a family member that I know and love hurts me and leaves, I’d eventually welcome them back and let bygones be bygones, because we are a team. But if it’s some coworker I don’t care about, I’d want to be made right for the troubles.

"We" are not a family. The EU is a confederation. If we were a family, I would require both contrition and some form of reparations, because breaking such a much closer bond has more severe consequences.

It’s good to let the leavers feel a taste of how bad it is to do it, but joining should always be a good thing and not a punishment.

If the UK thinks joining on the same terms as anybody else is a punishment they are free to not join. We have way too many grandfathered-in friction-causing privileges already.

[–] Enkrod@feddit.org 15 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Not getting old privileges back is not punishment. It's the logical progression from leaving a community where you had special privileges grandfathered in and then joining when new members don't get those privileges anymore. The UK doesn't get punished, it gets the same deal as everyone else.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 1 points 10 hours ago

New rules:

-Only one Article 50 per decade -France gets one free cock punch -Not allowed to ask for “proper food” on holiday -Cheddar now called “Fromage Anglais” -Only UK is subject to all the fake EU directives about bendy bananas invented by the London press

[–] NotEasyBeingGreen@slrpnk.net 24 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Yeah. No "refund", they switch to the Euro, and ideally join Shengen.

[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 3 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

As a UK citizen: yes, please. We need to commit this time, and that will mean actually taking part with gusto. Our arms-length approach to the EU was one of the reasons the Brexiteers were able to peddle their them-vs-us narrative.

Though I would just ask that if we're going to adopt the Euro, can we please make the banknotes look a little less drab.

[–] abc@suppo.fi 4 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Euro is not a requirement of being in EU. See Sweden for instance.

[–] FjordDan@lemmy.zip 9 points 13 hours ago

The Euro was established by treaty in 1992, named in 1995, introduced in 1999 for accounting and as physical cash in 2002.

Anyone joining the EU before 1992 could simply reject the Euro because it wasn't a part of the deal when they joined. Only Denmark and United Kingdom opted out.

Between 1992 and 1999 only 3 countries joined the EU. Finland and Austria decided to join the Eurozone. Sweden decided to "wait".

Anyone joining since then has to switch as soon as they meet the requirements.

This leaves Sweden in a unique position, which is why nobody is giving them too much of a hard time for ensuring that they never technically fulfill the requirements for switching.

[–] sparky@lemmy.federate.cc 22 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Funny to pick Sweden. They are actually obligated to adopt the Euro per the terms of the treaty as soon as they meet the adoption criteria, but are playing some cute games to intentionally avoid ever meeting the criteria. It’s unlikely another member state would get away with the same playbook.

[–] abc@suppo.fi 6 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Oh, I didn't know that. Thanks for brand new knowledge!

[–] huppakee@lemmy.world 9 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Denmark is the only eu member who negotiated to not have to adopt the Euro ever. The UK was exempt too but I don’t expect they’ll get that back. There is much more worthwhile things to go for, and it’s not like the pound is as strong as it was in 2001 either.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Yes, but the British ego remains

[–] join@lemmy.ml 47 points 1 day ago (2 children)

If you press Cornwall and Newcastle at the same time, the UK will reset to factory settings.

[–] rmuk@feddit.uk 2 points 11 hours ago

No, that's how you take a screenshot.

[–] grranibal@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Will the Excalibur limited-time event happen again?

[–] CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml 3 points 23 hours ago

I hope so, looking forward to that new character and voice pack DLC

[–] Zedstrian@sopuli.xyz 70 points 1 day ago (3 children)

“And yet, here he is unpicking the deal this country signed with the EU a decade after the referendum. He is not going to get a better deal. The EU are tough negotiators.”

The UK already had an amazingly favorable deal compared to most EU countries; expecting an even better one is asinine.

[–] CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml 7 points 23 hours ago

The Brexiteers literally unpicked a great deal we had with the EU years after we signed it and didn't get a better deal...

[–] FrogCat@piefed.social 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't think that quote is referring to the deal that the UK had when it was in the EU. I think the quote is referring to the UK's post-Brexit deal with the EU (the Trade and Cooperation Agreement). I guess Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader who gave that quote, believes that the Prime Minister is wasting time if he tries to get an improvement on that deal, because she thinks the EU won't significantly change it. I disagree with Badenoch's pessimism though. I think the UK should try to get a closer relationship with the EU, and I think the EU might be receptive to this.

Michel Barnier, formerly the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, recently indicated his support for "a stronger EU-UK defence pact", for example. That article shows that Barnier considers freedom of movement to be a non-negotiable part of single market membership (just like it was when the UK was in the EU). But he seems open to the idea of the UK not adopting the euro, if it rejoined the EU: "he added that adopting the euro need not necessarily be a condition of renewed membership". This is coherent with Barnier earlier this year saying that the UK could potentially stay out of the euro and out of the Schengen Area if it rejoined the EU:

I am speaking about Schengen, I am speaking about the single currency: there are other member states who are not in them. It is perfectly possible to have opt-outs in these fields.

[–] CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

iirc the UK actually somehow negotiated itself into a worse deal than the EU was actually offering due to refusing to concede on some things that then had to be done anyway for trade purposes?

[–] huppakee@lemmy.world 5 points 14 hours ago

Brexit in it’s entirety was a worse deal than the EU was offering.

[–] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

It seems like a clumsy attempt to appease both sides somehow. Like they‘re trying to look willing to the outside but make a ridiculous offer so they actually don‘t have to join.

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

UK negotiators should bring some notes this time.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 3 points 10 hours ago

We should send Hugh Grant or Colin Filth to read awkwardly from a piece of paper, but then partway through he throws it away and continues stutteringly but in a more impassioned but still very emotionally repressed way that wins the heart of the EU and a gathered audience.