At a press conference in Madrid on September 30, Emmanuel Macron welcomed Andy Burnham’s words about the possible return of the United Kingdom to the European Union. Smiling, he said in English, “Welcome back”, and then added in French that this was very good news for both his country and Europeans.
Macron said Burnham was right to show such courage, and reminded that the British in the EU were demanding partners and helped simplify the rules. At the same time, the French leader stressed that one cannot choose only the convenient elements of the union while giving up the rest of the freedoms.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, speaking alongside Macron, promised that his country would welcome the British application with open arms. In Brussels, the change in tone was also welcomed, but it was emphasized that London itself must decide what London wants.
In a series of interviews on Wednesday, Burnham listed options for the government: maintain the current status, seek a customs union, return to the single market, or go all the way to full membership. Participation in a customs union will require full alignment of trade policy and tariffs with the EU, while the single market means free movement of people.
The Britain-EU summit is due to take place in Brussels in the second half of November, with the exact date to be announced in the coming days. The meeting was postponed because of Keir Starmer’s resignation. The Burnham cabinet’s main priority remains British companies’ access to the “Made in Europe” program, although sources in the EU doubt that the issue can be resolved at the summit, and France remains the strongest opponent of allowing third countries into this program.
The day before, speaking at the UK Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Burnham said that after the next general election Britain could return to the EU, and said that Brexit had done more harm than good. Before that, he had promised to respect Labour’s red lines and ruled out the country’s membership in the customs union and the EU single market.
Sources
