Brexit – What It Means For the EU and the UK

Anders Fogh Rasmussen

7th July 2016 - 2849 days ago

Anders Fogh Rasmussen has been at the centre of global and European politics for three decades. He has been Prime Minister of Denmark, Danish Minister of Economic Affairs and NATO Secretary General. Fogh Rasmussen’s outstanding experience and achievements, along with his outstanding abilities, mark him out as a hugely respected voice in international politics. He recently wrote an insightful piece on Brexit and what it means for the EU and the UK, we include an excerpt here:

24 June 2016 it was confirmed that the UK had voted to leave the European Union. The historic decision has already triggered a series of events which will have a profound impact on the political and economic situation in the UK as well as in the EU.

Here is what we know:

The economic outlook: In the days since the referendum, the pound fell to a 30-year low against the dollar, financial markets around the world took a hit and top rating agencies have downgraded UK’s credit rating.

The pound and stock markets have stabilized a bit since then, but forecasts predict that the British economy will go into recession in the fourth quarter of this year and the first of 2017. This is in stark contrast with what, few days ago, was still considered by many as one of the strongest economic recoveries among industrialised economies since the 2008 crisis. It remains to be seen whether and how the UK leaves the Single Market. But what is clear is that outside the EU, the UK will have to re-define its global competitive advantage to remain an appealing global trading and investment hub. Read more.

You may also be interested in Carl Bildt, Joschka Fischer, Alastair Campbell, Sony Kapoor and Jeffrey Sachs, who speak about the impacts of Brexit.