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kleinbl00  ·  2834 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Brexit looks likely.

You miss the point: the EU won't become more bureaucratic, it'll suck down time and energy getting back to the level of bureaucracy it already has.

Trade agreements don't happen overnight. Look at it this way - EuroCorp has a problem. The Anglophile's Union has just voted to strike. EuroCorp must now renegotiate its union contract with Anglophile or else it gets no fish'n'chips, Monty Python or bomber parts. Worse than that, the Anglophile's Union is talking about busting up Local 101 into two locals, both of which will need to renegotiate, and the Irish Spring contingent is talking about joining O'Shaughnessey's.

That's just to get back to zero.

Meanwhile, Le Victor Hugos have noticed that the Anglophile's Union are renegotating their contract, maybe they should? Las Tortillas and the Cannolis have been threatening to bolt for half a decade and the Spanikopetas almost walked out of the building a half-dozen times last year. They might not be under renegotiation now, but neither were the Anglophiles this time last year. So while that isn't erupting, it isn't settled, either.

Uncle Sam Corp across the street? None of these issues. The Tandoori Oven? Ascendant and devoid of union problems. The Argentinian Steakhouse has different problems and the bikini waxers just north are about to be under new management but those issues don't have the time horizon of collective bargaining agreements and restructuring.

Will it take ten years? I have no better idea than anyone else. It'll take a while, though, and it won't be good for increasing Europes competiveness on the world market in the meantime. After? Well, that's the point - making Europe more competitive while also providing better living conditions for the people doing the work.

I've been through a few strikes. They take forever and nobody ends up happy.