Embracing Brexit

Graham Chapman: I think all righthtinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary, decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired.

All: Yes, yes...

Graham Chapman: I'm certainly not! And I'm sick and tired of being told that I am.

Not Sure?: Mrs. Havoc-Jones.

Mrs. Havoc-Jones: Well, I meet a lot of people and I'm convinced that the vast majority of wrongthinking people are right.

Not Sure?: There seems like a consensus there. Could we have the next question, please?

- from Monty Python's Flying Circus "Matching Tie and Handkerchief"

Before my visit to the United Kingdom last week the overwhelming impression gleaned from American media was that the U.K. had plainly shot itself in the foot with its vote to exit the European Union - or Brexit.  Further, my impression was that the core reason for the exit vote was fear and resentment of immigrants.

Over the course of a week spent in and around London and numerous conversations with everyone from taxi drivers to public officials to executives at private companies it becomes clear that the breadth and depth of support for departure from the EU was great and the variety of reasons was substantial.  But the single reason that stands out above all is the loss of sovereignty.

Blogger Lost Leonardo writes in The Economist: "Finally, the Economist descends into an Orwellian nightmare in which the conventional meaning of words is inverted and the only way to establish what is true is through dogmatic adherence to Party doctrine. According to the Economist: 'In a globalised world, power is necessarily pooled and traded: Britain gives up sovereignty in exchange for clout through its memberships of NATO, the IMF and countless other power-sharing, rule-setting institutions.'

"Yet it is only the EU which demands that Member States accept the supremacy of EU law over domestic law. The idea of enhancing sovereignty by pooling is akin to the idea of increasing virginity by having sex."

Some of those with whom I spoke last week noted the apparent "revelation" that the EU was contemplating the creation of an EU army.  This is reminiscent of the rumors of three or four years ago that EU commissioners were considering the implementation of a remote vehicle tracking and immobilization mandate.

All of the conversations regarding the European Commission suggest a continental Parliament with time and money to burn in the interest of meddling with the internal affairs of member states.  For me, the classic case of EU over-reach was the vote to implement the eCall automatic crash notification mandate beginning in 2018 for all new type-approved cars.

ECall is highly unlikely to achieve the life-saving expectations of its proponents - 1,200 lives annually at last estimate - and yet every car company will now have to add a telecom module to all type approved vehicles.  To add to the confusion, complexity and cost of this implementation, for which EU car buyers will pay, several large and small EU member states have yet to agree to the mandate and the wireless industry has introduced a so-called "dormant SIM" to ensure that wireless networks will not be taxed with location signaling from vehicles un-supported by any subscription revenue.

This last matter of the dormant SIM is leading to further complexity, cost and anxiety as multiple car makers plan to ship cars with more than one SIM - something that might never have been contemplated prior to the mandate.  Further complicating the eCall agenda, Russia's own mandated solution is incompatible with the EU's eCall and has its own testing snafus.

The UK long opposed the eCall mandate having had its own single public service access point solution in place for years and seeing no need to create an entirely new infrastructure with outdated - in-band modem - technology.  Who knows what new, pointless and expensive hardware and software requirements the EU might be inclined to dream up and inflict on the UK?  Left-hand drive?

For the European "experiment-ers" it's time to take stock and re-evaluate the purpose of the organization.  Will the EU primarily serve to facilitate the movement of goods, services, people and money?  Or will the EU take on political and military obligations?

The UK has clearly voted in favor of not sticking around to find out.  The Brexit sends a loud and clear message to Brussels to tamp down its ambitions and lower its sights.  It is time for more modesty and less meddling in the affairs of member states.

Roger C. Lanctot is Associate Director in the Global Automotive Practice at Strategy Analytics.  More details about Strategy Analytics can be found here: https://www.strategyanalytics.com/access-services/automotive#.VuGdXfkrKUk