What does the rest of the EU MISS from the UK not being part of it?

29 comments

1. 1. 6th largest global economy

   2. Major world financial centre in London

   3. A seat at the UN Security Council

   4. A nuclear weapons power

   5. Highly skilled economy with several world-class universities

2. Honestly? Buying random stuff like cheap books from stores that happen to be UK based. Now it means playing the customs lottery. A lot of companies used to have their EU branch in the UK, and are now effectively out of the single market.

   Bought a gift for a friend for 30 GBP recently. Ended up having to pay 15 GBP for shipping. Then got a customs + handling fee for 30-ish EUR. Just… no.

   Otherwise nothing much has changed for me. I can still travel there and use the eGates, give or take that new pointless eTA scheme. I suppose I couldn’t move there without a visa now, but that’s never been of interest.

3. Not paying customs when ordering books from the UK. Now I just order from other EU countries.

4. being able to buy plants and seeds from them 🙁 It is impossible now ….. so sad.

   I hope they will have a new referendum and join us again. WE ARE FAMILY

5. I’m sure we can find a lot of things that are way more important, but at my very personal level, it’s that I used to order Cornish fudges and crackers every Christmas season, but after Brexit it became really difficult because you never know when a package will get stuck at the border, and customs are insanely high.

   Also my brother was thinking about working as a windmill engineer in Orkney and Brexit made it too difficult to envisage (not just after it happened, Brexit while it was happening was making things unpredictable). He moved to Belgium instead.

6. Not paying customs when buying online (something I used to do quite frequently… now, not so much).

7. Travel has become a bit of a nuisance, also I think there are now fewer UK band touring in the EU. Other than that, I can’t think of any impact on everyday life.

8. I want my mackerel back, but no, the British catch them all now!

9. There were nice suppliers of exotic timber the UK, specially for luthiers. Now, some of those woods aren’t allowed to cross the borders because it’s too complicated, paper wise.

10. Being able to just nip over to the UK without having to bother with a visa.

11. I don’t get free internet in the UK on my mobile phone as a part of my data plan. That’s the only thing I’ve felt personally.

12. Reading the comments of that other thread I see lots of comments saying the UK needs to adopt the euro, Schengen etc. or else they’ll never get back in the EU.

    Are these just Reddit demands or do regular people in the EU actually care about this?

    As based on the comments on this thread here it seems a lot of people don’t really care much that the UK left the EU, as it hasn’t directly affected their daily lives much, so if the UK rejoined with their original opt outs they had wouldn’t this also have no direct effect on their daily lives as it would just go back to the status quo?

    Personally I don’t mind getting the euro and Schengen etc. but if those were the things to hold us back from rejoining the EU I’d be devastated tbh.

13. What i miss from the Uk as a German? My british and scottish friends. They used to travel a lot more and we met every now and then. But they do that less now.

14. Nothing.

    That’s not a joke comment or anything, it’s just to give my objective point of view. I expected [things], but so far nothing

15. Traveling there, not just as EU citizens but also as EU residents. Visa and biometric scan fees for citizens of third countries are insanely high. There’s some really beautiful places in the UK but we’re not going to pay 300 pounds just to get in…

16. Nothing I know of.

    Maybe Frenchies or Dutchies miss something though, since they were pretty much neighbours.

17. Some internet shopping and its now further down on my tourism short list…

18. I used to order online stuff from the UK way back when but luckily Amazon Spain opened a few years before Brexit.

    It does make me sad that the UK left the EU, as a former UK resident. However, I personally haven’t felt an impact of Brexit.

19. For Ireland, good value used cars, car & motorcycle parts, engineering workshops.

20. The UK is big in audio. Prices are a lot higher now. For the rest I’m still glad they left the EU. The UK has been ruined by their press and the tories. There are a lot of reactionary ideas there similar to the ones in the US.

21. Not having to worry about customs documentation and fees.

22. Right to work in London – I lost count of the recruiters that reached out to me and disappeared the moment I mentioned I need visa sponsorship

23. As a metalhead, my gripe it’s harder for UK bands to do concerts in the EU. For each country they need to obtain work permit, their merch get stuck at the customs, etc. For big bands like Iron Maiden it’s a hurdle, but for smaller ones that’s a lot of time and money wasted. 

    There is an interview with one of my favorite vocalists that he explains all the problems:  (starts at 2:20 ) – https://youtu.be/1-M2Fept42E?si=ima199EeJ9P8AHys

24. Sorely miss having a major member state that usually put the brakes on federalist ambitions.

25. I used to buy Lea&Perrins Worcestershiresauce in bulk from the UK once or twice a year since it’s so expensive and sometimes hard to get exactly this brand. Now it’s not worth it anymore since the customs would be way too much.

26. Online shopping mostly.

    I used to frequently order books, video games, electronics and even some clothes from UK stores. But after Brexit almost all of the websites I used to use have either closed down or stopped shipping outside of the UK.

    And the opportunity to potentially get a job in the UK with minimum administrative hassle was also a bonus since in my line of work London is a global hub.

27. For me it’s cheap vinyls. For many of the very niche bands that I love there’s usually a US based label that sells vinyls cheap but at horrendous shipping costs.

    And then there is very often a UK counterpart. When the UK was in the EU I was able to order my desired vinyls from the UK, usually for very cheap or no shipping costs. They even often matched euro prices and didn’t even charge currency conversion to pound or straight up offered the euro prices directly.

    Nowadays I’m actually finding that it’s often cheaper to order in bulk from US opposed to the UK prices with customs and shipping and pound conversion.

28. The only thing is buying books from the UK. They take a long time to arrive. Otherwise, nothing really.

29. I miss not having to walk over the border in Mini Europe.