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Zakelijke bijeenkomst

News

Everything you need to know!

Welcome to the news page. Here, I will compare certain events from France or an other country to what we read in Belgian newspapers. This way, I can help you see that some things can be way different if you read it from an other perspective. By doing this, we have a better look at certain stories so we can keep away from the danger of the single story as discussed in the TED talk because stories can differ from country to country or even from newspaper to newspaper. 

Zakelijke bijeenkomst

BREXIT

For my assignment concerning My global mind, I decided to compare articles about Brexit because that still remains an important topic in the EU. The articles may not be about France but I wanted to focus on the UK since I like the country so much. I will see what Belgian newspapers say and then compare them to the ones from the UK. This is because it's a well known topic and has an influence on this assignment as well because I would love to study in England. So here's the latest news on Brexit. 

DE STANDAARD

THE WEEK

First of all, I went looking for articles in Belgian newspapers and I found a really great one in 'de Standaard'. The article is about the possibility of a hard Brexit coming closer by the minute. 

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The UK has had a rough time with the corona crisis. They didn't take measures and that resulted in a lot of infections, dead and even prime minister Boris Johnson was infected with the corona virus. That eventually lead to a lockdown but also to a great economic loss. The British economy will this year probably fall with 11,5% according to the OEEC. 

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Despite all of the downfalls they endured, they still remain stubborn about leaving the EU on the 1st of January 2021 instead of another delay. This means that, starting from 2021, we will no longer just be able to cross the border and enjoy a trip to the UK. There will be more controlling at the border and you won't be able to just plan a trip a few days in advance. 

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Europe is convinced that the UK will never be able to pull all of this off by January. The UK invested over 100 million already for the border controls. 

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So, to limit the nuisance of the Brexit, it is necessary to negotiate with the UK about trade deals which aren't going very well. If there is no agreement, the UK will leave with a hard Brexit with is not good for either the UK nor the EU. 

When we look at articles from the UK, we notice that most of them aren't that worried about a no-deal Brexit but they know that there are certain consequences.

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As we saw in the Belgian article, it is certain that the UK will leave the EU in the beginning of 2021. That too is what the British newspapers have to say. 

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The newspapers tell kind of the same story but on one thing they think different: who will have to make concessions regarding certain trade deals. 

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We see that the UK wants the Brexit deal to work without severe consequences but they also want it do be done their way. On certain topics, they aren't planning to make amends and neither is the EU. 

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Luckily, the UK realizes that leaving the EU without a deal would make live a lot harder in Britain. Taxes will be bigger and export will become very expensive. 

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However, they also realize that they will still have to work with the World Trade Organization which means that they are still not able to make up their own rules. 

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Between the articles, we don't see much of a difference which is a good case. Both parties know that negotiations are in order and that it would be better to come to an agreement. By comparing the two articles, we avoid listening to a single story, but we focus on different developments and opinions. 

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When you want to learn something about certain events that happend in another country, it is very important to not only look at what your own country has to say but also look at what the others have to say. Often, it will happen that the stories are the same but in some cases that isn't the truth and you will have to look for the things that are correct and those who aren't. 

CONCLUSION

SOURCES

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