Rapprochement between London and Brussels?
Almost five years after Brexit, the UK wants to rebuild closer ties with the EU on trade and defence policy. On Monday Rachel Reeves became the first Chancellor of the Exchequer to take part in a Eurogroup meeting since Brexit was finalised. The British press voices scepticism for a variety of reasons.
Just playacting
The British government needs to show more sincerity, says The Independent:
“To really make the British economy sing requires taking a step almost no one in British politics has the courage to make the case for: rejoining the EU - or, at the very least, the single market. ... A serious effort at mitigation when the new European Commission is ready to roll should at least involve accepting things like common standards, rather than embracing difference for the sake of it. ... There is increasing scepticism in European capitals over whether Starmer and Reeves really mean what they've been saying. It's time to stop the playacting.”
Power quietly flowing back to Brussels
The Spectator voices major doubts:
“Plans, for example, for the approximation of animal and plant safety provisions have already been floated by Labour in the name of easing trade: innocent sounding at first sight, these could reintroduce by the back door a great deal of the EU micromanagement of the food and farming industry that Brexit freed us from. ... We need to remain on our guard. This meeting remains a worrying indication that the government is not interested in doing anything to stop the quiet flow of power back from Westminster to Brussels.”
Old attitudes prevail
The New European is puzzled as to how Reeves really envisions improved relations with the EU:
“It would be nice to think that things have changed but as Rachel Reeves is making perfectly clear, nothing has changed at all. ... The old attitudes to the EU and the EC continue in British politics. We are negotiating from strength, they need us more than we need them, they will give us what we want, we can cherry-pick, and we will win everything, and they will get nothing. ... We are basically saying, 'We have nothing to offer. Now what are you going to give us?'”