The European Union is on the verge of losing one of its members for the first time in its history. The repercussions of Britain's departure from the bloc will ripple throughout Continental politics, economics and finances, shaking Europe to its core. Britain's biggest EU trade partners, which stand to be especially hard-hit should Britain lose access to the common market, will desperately seek to expedite a free-trade agreement between Brussels and London. At the same time, countries in the eurozone periphery will have to brace themselves for a period of political instability and financial uncertainty that could threaten their feeble economic recoveries. Their non-eurozone peers in Northern and Eastern Europe, meanwhile, may decide to distance themselves from the bloc after losing such an important ally outside the currency area. And as the cracks undermining European unity spread, the bloc's foundation -- the Franco-German alliance -- will weaken....
