The European Union (EU) has extended the Brexit deadline for Jan. 31, 2020 after the British parliament could not reach an agreement for a plan as it leaves the EU. Its previous extended deadline was slated for Oct. 31, 2019.
Borris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said that he would take the U.K. out of the EU by Oct. 31 in a “do or die.” However, Johnson requested to postpone it again since parliament was unable to forge an agreement for the previous deadline in which the EU accepted.
The EU wanted to avoid a costly no-deal Brexit and the economic/trade disruption that would likely follow, adding to their reason why Johnson’s postpone request was granted.
Johnson plans to use this extra time to hold a general election on Dec. 12 in order to break the stalemate in parliament regarding the procedure of Brexit and get his version of the deal passed.
Because a two-thirds majority in parliament must vote in favor of a plan in order to pass Brexit, opposition parties have delayed the process of the deal up until this point. These parties want to delay the deal as long as they can so that Johnson would be forced to ask for an extension.
With his extension request, some predict that Johnson’s support will falter after his previous promise to get out of the EU by Oct. 31 and that he would rather “die in
a ditch” than ask for another extension.
The Brexit issue has been a national interest as well considering the relationship with the U.S. and U.K. Some American’s believe that it is merely an internal affair and are not too concerned by it.
“I honestly do not care,” says Morgan Fala, a 17-year-old undecided major from Hulmeville.
“It’s not going to affect me that much, so there’s no reason for me to worry about it.”
“I haven’t paid much attention to it, probably because I don’t think it will mess with my life too much,” Dylan Lorenz, an 18-year-old Bucks student from Langhorne, agreed.
Since they have yet to come up with a plan, U.S. economists have had a hard time determining what this means for the U.S. economy. However, they have said that its effect on the U.S. will be determined by how closely the U.K. stays to the EU, according to CNBC.
The U.K. is one of the U.S.’ top trading partners., and if it leaves the EU, prices of everything from food to fuel will increase. It could also affect the security of the U.S. and others, and the freedom to travel between countries.
All of these factors will be determined on the decisions the U.K. makes and how close they decide to stay to the EU.
It is unclear what parliament will end up passing in regards to Brexit depending on how the proposed elections turn out. However, the situation in the U.K. isn’t going to improve should nothing end up being agreed upon.