The year 2021 has begun, with Britain already completely separate from the European Union. Britain joined the EU in 1973 and has been a member of the EU for almost half a century. However, even as an EU Member State, Britain refrained from very close integration into all common systems.
Britain refused and did not intend to join the Schengen agreement. The reason was Britain's special relationship with many former colonies, the British Commonwealth of Nations (since 1949, known simply as the Commonwealth of Nations). Upon accession to the Schengen Agreement, the United Kingdom would have to impose a visa requirement on a large number of Commonwealth countries. However, maintaining close ties with the former colonies was more important to Britain than allowing its citizens to travel around Europe with domestic documents. Of course, the Commonwealth of Nations can be seen as a kind of nostalgic reminder of the time when the British Empire was the world's dominant power. During the times when the British Empire included India, the British Empire was the largest global power in the world. But the Commonwealth of Nations is not just an international organization that allows the British to linger in the memories of the greatness of the past. Today, the Commonwealth of Nations plays an important geopolitical role. The British leadership in the Commonwealth justifies Britain's special status in the UN Security Council.
There are fifteen countries in the UN Security Council, five of which (US, UK, France, Russia, and China) are permanent members, and ten - variable - members are re-elected every two years.
The UN Security Council has exclusive competence for matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security; to the existence of any threat to peace, breach of peace, or act of aggression.
The UN Security Council makes recommendations to address threats to international security; decide on measures other than the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security; decides on the commencement of military operations against the aggressor; makes recommendations for the accession of new Member States; makes recommendations to the General Assembly for the election of the Secretary-General and, together with the General Assembly, elects the judges of the International Court of Justice.
If any such decision is voted against by at least one of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the decision is rejected.
At the time of the founding of the United Nations, Britain and the United States were the world's most dominant powers, but with the separation of many colonies from the British Empire, Britain's global importance declined significantly. Leadership in the Commonwealth means that the United Kingdom represents the interests of not just one country, but a globally important group of countries.
For Britain, therefore, relations with the Commonwealth were more important than the Schengen Agreement. On the issue of the transition to the single EU currency, Britain also retained the right not to unite its financial system with the EU. Britain (and Denmark), unlike all other EU member states, was not required to give up their currency and switch to the euro. The accession treaties of all other EU member states set a mandatory obligation (without a fixed time limit) to join the eurozone. As a result, the British financial system remained separate from the rest of the EU. This peculiarity of Britain somewhat simplified the withdrawal from the EU, because, in the end, only the procedure for the exchange of goods and services from 2021 had to be agreed upon.
It is now clear that the economic consequences of Britain's secession will be significantly smaller than the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, Britain's withdrawal has already had a significant impact on the political processes in the EU. Germany, which has always been the dominant economic power of the European Union, will remain so even without Britain in the EU. However, with Britain's withdrawal from the EU, France's influence in decision-making has inevitably increased. In addition, France is now the only nuclear-weapon state in the European Union, it has the most influential military potential in the EU and it is the only EU Member State to have a veto in the UN Security Council.