From Brexit to Nexit?

The referendum on Brexit was not the only referendum in Europe this year.

The Dutch population was invited to vote on a Ukraine-European Union treaty on closer political and economic ties. The Dutch population rejected it, by 64%. It is still unclear if the government will indeed reject the treaty, or try to adapt it on a few (minor) points. They have to deal with the same dilemma as the British government: what do you do with a negative result from a referendum?

The result of this Dutch referendum confirms a trend. The Dutch were known for being open, tolerant and pro-European, but that seems to belong to the past now. The anti-European and anti-Islamic ‘Freedom Party’ of Geert Wilders might well become the biggest party after the general elections next year. If there were a referendum on a ‘Nexit’ (Netherlands Exit), opinion polls tell us that a majority of the population would vote in favour of it.

In other words, Brexit is not only a problem of the United Kingdom. I would say it is rather a problem of the European Union. The European project has lost the confidence of Europeans, and with its root and purpose. The European Union was indeed founded after the Second World War to guarantee peace in Europe, and to show solidarity with all countries and people needing help. It now seems to have the ambition to become a ‘United States of Europe’. And the European people don’t want that.

Is Brexit the end of the European project, and will it take us back in time?

It is not the first Brexit in history. Christianity in Europe also knew a ‘Brexit’ when Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church and founded a national Church. Thanks to this Church, and to Anglican authenticity, European Protestants found a safe refuge in London in the sixteenth century while fleeing from religious persecution.

In 1550 the Stranger’s Church was founded in London, which is today known as the Dutch Church at Austin Friars. The Stranger’s Church was a laboratory for new ideas on Church and Theology, and it not only had had a profound influence on the Reformation in England but also on the continent. So in the end, the first Brexit had an innovative and positive impact on Christianity in the whole of Europe

Would this also be the case for the second Brexit that we are dealing with at this moment? It is difficult to predict the effects of the current Brexit. Let us remain careful over drawing conclusions.

As a Christian I want to live with the perspective of a world without borders, where all share in peace, prosperity and happiness. I am still convinced that a common European project can bring this ideal world a bit closer. There is now a challenge to face. The new situation that has emerged makes an appeal to all European politicians and citizens to rediscover what we share. Peace and solidarity in Europe were once the main reasons to start the European Union. It is time the European Union rediscovers her raison d’être.

Let Brexit be a wake-up call, before there comes a Nexit, a Gexit and a Frexit. And as was the case after the first Brexit, I hope that all living in the United Kingdom will stimulate and inspire the European Union to reform itself in a proper manner.

About the author

Rev. Joost Röselaers is a minister of the Dutch Church in London, located at Austin Friars, and actively involved with the Dutch Centre in London. He studied Theology and Ethics in Leiden and Cape Town. Until 2013 he was a minister of the liberal Remonstrant Church in Amsterdam. He is a board member of the Dutch liberal party, and has written several books and articles on the relationship between religion and politics.