news
French finance minister becomes latest to back UK rejoining EU
‘Come back, anytime,’ said Mr Lescure, but what would rejoining look like?
France’s Finance Minister Roland Lescure has urged the UK to “come all the way back,” and rejoin the European Union.
He is the latest EU politician to offer an open hand to the UK and publicly support a return to the bloc, following French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez last week.
Support for the UK to rejoin the bloc comes in light of comments by UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham at the end of September, where he said his government would explore the UK’s relationship with the EU, looking into measures including going “all the way” and asking to become a member state.
The UK attempting to rejoin the EU is one of several options, which could also include the country joining the EU single market or entering a customs union with the bloc, without rejoining fully.
However, Mr Burnham also said agreements could remain as they are now, with no deepening of relations, if that was the preferred course of action for Britons.
The UK prime minister said that his ministers will look at “what is doable” and the “pros and cons,” of each option.
EU-UK summit planned for next month
“British people decided, and that’s obviously their 100% right, and if they’re willing to come back, they will have to decide. But what I can tell them is: come back, anytime,” said Mr Lescure in an interview with the BBC.
The UK and EU are set to discuss their relationship at a summit in November, but the summit is set to be clouded by disagreements over a new EU ‘Made in Europe’ scheme that seeks to boost continental manufacturing.
The UK, currently omitted from the programme, wants to become a part of it, and fears if it does not British businesses will suffer.
However, it is currently exclusive to EU members.
The EU has not yet finalised the scheme, and there is still the potential for other countries, such as the UK, to join either partially or fully.
France is staunchly against the idea of opening up the programme to other countries.
However, the EU automotive industry wants the UK to be allowed into the scheme, to help bolster continental supply chains.
Asked about the UK being part of the scheme, Mr Lescure said it would be easier to organise such matters if the UK was in the bloc.
“Come back, and you’ll be at the table, and we discuss all these things together,” said Mr Lescure.
What would a ‘rejoin’ look like?
There is no way of knowing what would happen if the UK did rejoin the EU, but in a scenario where it did happen, it would be likely that many of the opt-out clauses the UK previously benefited from would no longer apply.
Last week, Mr Macron said as much: “You cannot choose between the freedoms of the union and decide to take what suits [you] and not the rest.”
This could include, crucially, replacing the pound sterling as the national currency with the euro, something the UK previously had an opt-out clause for in its original membership.
Other opt-out clauses regarding deficit levels (although France is currently falling foul of some of these), and on joining the Schengen area would also likely be off the table, with the UK having to commit to these as part of any effort to rejoin.
Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK and one of the most vocal supporters of Brexit, remains unfazed by the calls, and even referenced a poll that said 59% of people would like to see the UK rejoin the EU.
“Of course they do, until you tell them it’ll cost £25 billion a year, until you tell him it’ll mean joining Schengen, until he [Mr Burnham] tells them it will mean actually having to recommit to joining the euro,” he said to The Guardian newspaper.
