Were there really expectations that Brexit would give the UK continued free/easy trade with the EU but also detangle the UK from having any responsibility to the EU?
Depends on how long term you want to think.
The problem here is the degree to which Germany is willing to tank Europe in order to, in the short term, deter more departures.
See, the departure of the UK makes it very likely that the next banking crisis, hell, maybe the next election, will see Greece leave. Greece needs to leave because the only way to fix their economy is to go back to the drachma and massively devalue it against the euro.
The more psychotic continentals such as Guy Verhofstadt and Angela Merkel need to be as punitive as possible towards the UK if they are to hold the Euro together in the short term.
In the long term, well...
The UK is friends with the largest economy in the world, and it's northern neighbor, the largest untapped reserve of natural resources in the world. The anglophone economic zone is gigantic and the UK is the closest part of it to Europe. Long term, Europe can't remain economically hostile to the UK without becoming economically friendly to either Russia or the middle east. They're too dependent on imported resources, chiefly oil. Of the euroblock only Norway has useful reserves, and those are split with the UK.
Europe can't remain economically hostile to the UK without becoming economically friendly to either Russia or the middle east
Germany was busy doing just that long before the word "Brexit" was even an inkling in anyone's imagination, hence Nordstream, and Nordstream 2. The entire EU seems quite eager to latch itself onto Russian natural gas, so much so that they are even willing to sabatoge their own nuclear power capabilities.
Depends on how long term you want to think.
The problem here is the degree to which Germany is willing to tank Europe in order to, in the short term, deter more departures.
See, the departure of the UK makes it very likely that the next banking crisis, hell, maybe the next election, will see Greece leave. Greece needs to leave because the only way to fix their economy is to go back to the drachma and massively devalue it against the euro.
The more psychotic continentals such as Guy Verhofstadt and Angela Merkel need to be as punitive as possible towards the UK if they are to hold the Euro together in the short term.
In the long term, well...
The UK is friends with the largest economy in the world, and it's northern neighbor, the largest untapped reserve of natural resources in the world. The anglophone economic zone is gigantic and the UK is the closest part of it to Europe. Long term, Europe can't remain economically hostile to the UK without becoming economically friendly to either Russia or the middle east. They're too dependent on imported resources, chiefly oil. Of the euroblock only Norway has useful reserves, and those are split with the UK.
Regarding long-term future: it's worth noting that the EU is busy making overtures towards China.
Oh.
We're back to medieval times again, with China being #1 superpower and Eurocucks being their buttslave.
That appears to be the aim, yes.
Germany was busy doing just that long before the word "Brexit" was even an inkling in anyone's imagination, hence Nordstream, and Nordstream 2. The entire EU seems quite eager to latch itself onto Russian natural gas, so much so that they are even willing to sabatoge their own nuclear power capabilities.