Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

OTTAWA – Lawmakers in Canada and Europe are hailing Wednesday’s approval of the Canada-EU free trade deal by the European Parliament as a win for the values of openness in the face of anti-trade movements, including the Donald Trump administration.

Britain wants out.
Canada wants in.

I'm really pleased with this news.

http://www.macleans.ca/politics/european-parliament-approves-canada-eu-free-trade-deal/

Quote:

OTTAWA – Lawmakers in Canada and Europe are hailing Wednesday’s approval of the Canada-EU free trade deal by the European Parliament as a win for the values of openness in the face of anti-trade movements, including the Donald Trump administration.

Canada has a very large trade surplus with the United States and an equally large deficit in its trade with the rest of the world. It certainly needs whatever help it can get in reducing this deficit and the vulnerability that results from such dependence on a favorable trade balance with only one nation. I doubt that Europe will make up the difference.

STRASBOURG, France – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau showed the European Union some much needed love today in a highly-anticipated speech following its ratification of the free trade pact with Canada.

But he also warned that if the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement doesn’t succeed it could be the last deal of its kind.

“The European Union is a truly remarkable achievement, and an unprecedented model for peaceful co-operation. Canada knows that an effective European voice on the global stage isn’t just preferable – it’s essential,” Trudeau said.

In his speech, Trudeau said people who complain that trade deals benefit only a few have a valid concern, but deals like the Canada-EU free trade pact are good for all.

Trudeau delivered that message in his much-anticipated address to the European Parliament today, his attempt to argue for free trade in the face of an increasingly hostile, populist opposition that includes the Trump administration.

“Now, we live in a time when many people are worried that the current system only benefits society’s luckiest few. And their concern is valid,” Trudeau said.

“The anxiety people have towards the economy and trade – the worry that our kids won’t have access to the same jobs and opportunities that we had – can be addressed only if we ensure that trade is inclusive, so that everyone benefits.”

But Trudeau said the pact does in fact deliver on that.

But one stating (as was stated in this thread) that the British Isles are part of the "European continent" would be on very shacky ground because 1) by definition, an island is not "on the continent" and 2) the concept of a "European continent" itself is problematic.

The EU also faces an interesting convergence of growing internal threats (depopulation and demographic decline) ...

Brexit is an opportunity for Europe to deepen its integration.

Indeed, Europe is a cultural concept, a social geography concept, not a geophysical concept.

Therefore, one could argue that the UK forms part of the "European culture". Although quite a few Brits would disagree with that statement, one can find some evidence for it: England once part of the Roman Empire, the Brits are in majority Christian, they speak an Indo-European language coming from French and German, their monarchs have been from other European countries, their cultural production has been influenced by other Europeans' and vice-versa, etc. etc.

But one stating (as was stated in this thread) that the British Isles are part of the "European continent" would be on very shacky ground because
1) by definition, an island is not "on the continent" and 2) the concept of a "European continent" itself is problematic.