PTo have the first time since the historic referendum on Brexit of 2016 and the release of the United Kingdom of the European Union (EU) in 2020, the British Islands begin a movement of rapprochement, also striking, with the continent. The conclusion, Monday, May 19 in London, by the Labor Government of Keir Starmer and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, of a “New strategic partnership” formalizes a return of a pendulum after the endless and acrimonious exit negotiations followed by years of distance and mistrust. In a context marked by the war in Ukraine, the Russian threat, American isolationism, the risk of European dropout and the rise of national selfishness, it is good news for the twenty-seven.
This heavy landscape is obviously not unrelated to the beginning of a welcome reunion. The heart of the agreement signed on Monday is made up of a defense and security pact which strengthens cooperation in military and armaments. It opens the way to a future access by British industrialists to the European SAFE fund of 150 billion euros intended to finance the reset of the twenty-seven. The British also obtained the limitless deletion of duration of health checks for their products entering the EU.
In return, they agreed to maintain up to 2038 access to their national waters to French, Belgian and Dutch fishing boats. On the other hand, Mr. Starmer has not agreed to restore the facilities that the EU offers in matters of mobility of young people, the subject on which negotiations will however continue.
The weight of anti -European rhetoric
Relatively modest, these advances, however, reflect the constructive spirit which now animates both parties. On the British side, the movement reflects a form of recognition of the damage that the United Kingdom has been inflicted by hampering its exchanges with its main economic partner, damages observed today by a majority of British, according to polls. For Europeans, it is a question of admitting that they will weigh more in world affairs by cooperating closely with a country with a large defense industry, a structured army and the atomic weapon.
You have 35.62% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
Source: Lemonde