SAINT-PIERRE ET MIQUELON

A LEADING LAWYER says that prior to Brexit, those lands still maintaining the British monarchy as their head of state, may well have been ghost members of the European Union, whose status could have been elevated to full membership at any time which entitles them to be considered for this should they so wish.

“This means that while the United Kingdom left the EU – well most of it because Northern Ireland remains governed by EU trade rules, hence the very real border in the Irish Sea – these ghost memberships were never revoked, merely existing in a kind of holding pattern waiting for a decision,” says Mason Perry who represents clients in the European courts. “Of course,Canada is one such country, and as it is practically attached to the French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, it is barely a step away from the European Union. That doesn’t even take into consideration the province of Quebec, which, should it ever become independent, would be front and centre for consideration for European Union membership on the basis of history and culture alone. And don’t get me started on the Louisiana Purchase. I think that needs revisiting.”