Six Months Is Long Enough to Allow for New Elections

At an EU summit in Brussels, the United Kingdom and the remaining Member States of the European Union agreed to move the Brexit date to 31 October 2019. However, Great Britain is also free to leave the EU at an earlier date or to cancel Brexit altogether. Professor Achim Wambach, President of the ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research and Professor Friedrich Heinemann, head of the ZEW Research Department “Corporate Taxation and Public Finance”, offer their view on the matter.

“The six-month delay of Brexit gives Britain and the EU a chance to reflect on whether their marriage is really broken or whether reconciliation is still possible. Six months is long enough to allow for new elections, which could give Brexit opponents new legitimacy for a second referendum.

The voters now have a much better idea of what Brexit really means and realized that many of the Brexiters’ promises are unviable. The significantly extended reflection period of the UK has slightly increased the likelihood of a ‘remain’ scenario. However, the UK is buying time at a high economic cost: As long as Brexit is still looming, new investments in the UK are not an option for most companies. Whether the UK ultimately withdraws from the EU or not, the country pays a high price due to missing investments and a decreasing production potential.”