In 2019, the EU put a disproportionate amount of energy and labor into Brexit. That has to change this year. There are other groundbreaking decisions to be made.
On Friday the time has finally come: The British officially leave the EU out. The British Prime Minister wants in just eleven months Boris Johnson now regulate future economic relations with the EU. Hardly any expert – neither in Brussels nor in London – seriously believes that this will be possible in every detail until the end of 2020. The negotiations on the EU’s comprehensive free trade agreement with Canada lasted around seven years.
Johnson, however, has ruled out several times and even by law that the transition period should be extended beyond 2020. If no agreement is reached, a hard one threatens in the end United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum without economic and political agreements and with significant trade barriers between the EU and the UK.
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There are high-intensity months in which both sides will try to get the maximum out of themselves. This is problematic for the EU, because it is extraordinary what it has planned for 2020 from July under the German Presidency. There are fundamental decisions that will determine the future of the international association for years to come and that must not be covered by the Brexit negotiations.
A selection:
a new EU budget for seven years is to be drawn up
the climate protection program “European Green Deal” must be specified
the promise of democracy “Departure for Europe” must be fulfilled
a new defense fund is to be decided
the permanent problem of migration must be overcome
the tense trade relationship with the United States needs to be improved
EU enlargement issues – especially in the Western Balkans – need to be resolved
These are the more or less concrete tasks. But the EU faces a broader and more fundamental problem: in the course of Brexit, it must make it clear why it is indispensable and why it is without alternative and above all advantageous for the remaining member states. It has to make itself fit for the future so that it is not overwhelmed by global political developments and pushed aside.
What the EU cannot use: An endless financial haggle in the negotiations for the next EU budget. It is about how much Germany and the other countries pay into the EU fund and what is funded or paid with the billions. In the past, this regularly led to sometimes bitter controversy and damaged the image of the EU – not only in Great Britain,
Johnson must not drive the EU ahead
The EU must find a healthy balance in negotiations with the British. Of course, the UK should remain an important partner. It is also understandable that the British are aiming for the shortest possible transition phase, because they must adhere to all EU rules and pay into the EU budget during this time, but are no longer allowed to have a say in Brussels. You no longer have a representative in the EU Commission, at Council of Ministers, at EU summits or in the EU Parliament.
But it must not happen that Johnson and his ministers drive the EU ahead. Regardless of whether the British are threatened with a hard Brexit or with a comprehensive trade agreement with the USA: the EU must not throw its principles overboard for fear of an exit without an agreement. After all, it is not the EU that has set the time frame for negotiations so narrowly, but Johnson.
And – even if the British may see it differently: Brexit is not the only and not the most important item on the EU 2020 agenda. The British were one of 28 EU countries – albeit an important one. But that doesn’t mean that the EU cannot exist without Britain.
After the transition phase, Great Britain must not be largely equated with the remaining 27 member states. Leaving the EU must have noticeable consequences for the British and clarify the advantages of EU membership – otherwise the EU will make itself redundant.
