By French law, foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by force-feeding corn. I could go in more detail about the law, the duck or the feeding, but that’s not the subject I want to discuss in this article. Instead, I’m writing to address Brexit, because, like in Fois Gras, Europe keeps force-feeding the idea of remaining in the Union down British throats.
We can agree or disagree with the decision 33.5 million Brits made in 2016, We can argue how misinformed the voters were or how Brexit was mainly supported by an older generation that doesn’t represent the future of the UK, but We can’t deny its validity. We can’t take the decisions We agree as final and those We disagree has a brief obstacle to the “right choice”. Democracy lives by the power of the majority, and every time We neglect a result voted by a majority We drain credibility from democracy, We create doubts and ignite feelings of mistrust, fear, and suspicion in those who have their opinion and vote ignored by democracy.
This is a recurrent problem with Europe Union, whenever a referendum doesn’t go its way a second one is done to “amend democracy”. It happened in 92/93 when Denmark had to do a second vote to ratify the Maastricht Treaty, and again in 08/09 in Ireland with the Treaty of Lisbon.
Today, after the European court of justice (ECJ) decision, news of a second Brexit referendum gained traction. No one truly knows what will happen but We might be moving towards a second chance for EU in the UK. I don’t agree with Brexit but I also don’t see any positive aspects in redoing this decision. Force-feeding EU’s way won’t add stability to Europe, won’t change Brits’ opinion about the Union, and more importantly, won’t make democracy stronger.
The United Kingdom made a decision and should live with it. Instead of rewriting history We should concentrate on the future, building a path for a more robust and inclusive Union.
Under Review 