The outcome of the referendum in Great Britain last summer on whether the country should remain or leave the European Union, and the following decision by the British Government to withdraw Britain´s membership, will deeply affect the future developments of the Union; Great Britain will also face necessary adjustments due to its wish to bring legislative, executive and judiciary powers back to its own institutions. This complicated and intricate process will get additional depth and see new dimensions emerge as a result of the upcoming French Presidential Election.

One of the French Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen´s main objectives is to re-negotiate the terms for the French membership in the European Union, leading to a more independent role for the country and its political and administrative institutions; also, in the longer perspective, to explore the possibilities for France to end its membership. She sees an independent France as a guarantee for the continuation and further development of the French welfare-state, for the preservation of a French cultural identity and to set the stage for a more restrictive policy on immigration.

The other Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, is a strong supporter of a continued French membership in the European Union. He sees its common market with its free flow of goods, services and people as a prerequisite for prosperity, thereby laying the foundation for European welfare; a quite generous view on immigration, although not unregulated, is part of that policy.

If Marine Le Pen wins the presidential election the European Union will be shaken to its very foundations, and its uncertain if it can survive in its present form; possibly losing two of its bigger members would most probably lead to a fundamental discussion regarding its aim and basic set of principles.

I personally think and hope that the European Union survives. That some European countries have decide not to join the Union, or, as in the case with Great Britain, to leave it after a period of membership, have to be respected; although I personally think its very sad and that it was a bad decision. I believe, all facts and circumstances taken together, and seen in a longer and wider perspective, that all European countries, and the World Community, are to gain from a revival and strengthening of the European Union.

I also hope that the negotiations on Brexit between the European Union and Great Britain, will be held in a spirit of mutual trust and good will, and that all parts will respect the rules set down in the EU-treaties; that after the completion of the Brexit process the strong and close bonds between Great Britain, and the other European countries, signified by its role as one of the most important members of NATO, will have a revival through a multiplicity of new treaties within trade, economy, research, culture, education etc. I also hope that Great Britain as a nation will stand strong through the negotiations and continue to be, a United Kingdom.