You may have heard a new word in the news lately. That word is Brexit. It is a combination of the words Britain and Exit. When people say “Britain” they are referring to the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. This is a nation made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. When they say “exit” they mean Britain’s decision to exit the European Union. You may hear about Brexit a lot this month as the deadline for the United Kingdom to exit the European Union is March 29th.
The European Union is a group of 28 countries in Europe. People and goods [things that are sold] can move between these countries freely. Nineteen of these countries even use the same type of money – the euro. On June 23, 2016, the people of Britain voted to leave the European Union.
After the decision, Britain and the European Union needed to decide how to trade with each other. They had almost two years to come to an agreement before Britain would leave the European Union. On March 29th those two years are up. Without an agreement on trade, goods may not be able to move between Britain and the rest of Europe. Some fear this could cause shortages of needed goods such as food and medicine.
What Do You Think? Have you ever had problems being part of a group? What did you do?
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