Brexit Metaphor No 132
When Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU on January 1, 2007, they joined at 00:00 (midnight) Bulgarian and Romanian time. This was still 23:00 Central European Time (CET) on December 31, 2006 (and 22:00 GMT in London) but the one-hour time difference with Brussels did not bother anyone. The EU accession treaty for Bulgaria and Romania does not specify the exact hour and simply stipulates January 1 as the accession date in all 23 official EU languages.
On the other hand, when the UK triggered Article 50 on March 29, 2017, it was told by Brussels that the date and hour of formal withdrawal from the EU would be 00:00 (midnight) CET on March 30, 2019, which is awkwardly 23:00 GMT on March 29 in London. Britain tried to negotiate a midnight GMT withdrawal but failed. Symbolically, Brussels was setting the terms.
These principles have also been visible in trade and regulatory talks: when two sides are converging, the precise details are not important. However, when diverging, all the minutiae come to the surface (in 60-minute increments).
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| Clock (Source: Wikipedia) |
Notes:
1. Timeline: This article is part of a series of original #BrexitMetaphors published daily. A total of 132 have been posted so far and another 29 Brexit Metaphors will be published every day until the planned Brexit date of March 29, 2019.
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