In the early 1790s George Washington had a problem. He had led Americans to independence but the peace treaty with defeated Britain left many issues unresolved. These included ill-defined border arrangements with Canada, unilateral disregard of the treaty — British troops refused to leave their forts on the Great Lakes — and the Royal Navy taking every opportunity to obstruct American trade. As the first president of the United States Washington knew he faced a choice. He could try to manage the situation from one crisis to another or he could attempt to create trust and confidence in dealings with London, even in the face of constant provocation.
Washington made his choice. His decision to sign a new treaty resolving most issues with generous offers to Britain brought him bitter political attacks and a huge crowd surrounding his residence demanding war instead — but it gave the nascent USA the chance to break free of old disputes and accelerate its rise to prosperity. The American disposition to be on friendly terms with the old colonial power was established, even though one war was still to follow. It was a far-sighted act of genuine statecraft.
Unlike the American Revolution, Brexit has been a peaceful process. Yet the last-minute agreement between the EU and UK has left many echoes of the early poor relations between Britain and America. Border issues are a constant aggravation, some areas of trade bedevilled by peevish officialdom, and both sides have toyed with or have actually taken unilateral measures. Difficult problems and deadlines stretch ahead for many months: grace periods expiring, controls still to be introduced, legal action launched by Brussels against UK decisions yet to be resolved.
It would be churlish to deny that some quiet progress has also been made. Britain has reacted with restraint and effective diplomacy to EU threats of vaccine wars, and there are signs of progress between officials in talks on the most difficult issue of all, the Northern Ireland protocol. However, these extremely dangerous disagreements have had to reach a crisis point for a sufficient concentration of combined political will to be mustered, and are made more difficult by the overall absence of trust. The honest truth is that relations between London and Brussels are very poor.
There is a choice to be made here, on both sides of the Channel. Are we going to muddle along, hoping to resolve each question as the deadline passes, taking our own measures when we deem it appropriate, seeking the advantage from every transaction and hoping no further global crisis hits us while we are busy mistrusting each other? Or are we going to acknowledge on both sides that Britain has left the European Union, is not coming back, that everybody can now get over it, that we are each other’s most important neighbours and it is entirely possible to create a better atmosphere for millions of people who will want to work, travel, invest and study abroad?
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Of course, any sensible person in Downing Street or the chancelleries of Europe would say, that is exactly what we want. The Irish prime minister, Micheál Martin has called for such a “reset” of relations and said the EU is ready for it. It will not, however, happen of its own accord. We will not wake up one day to find Lord Frost is suddenly having highly convivial evenings in the Berlaymont building, with effusive toasts all round and the mood completely transformed. No minister or diplomat can deliver what is needed without some substantive actions, changes of policy and evidence that, at the very top, there has been a conscious political choice.
What could those changes be? Let me make some suggestions. The UK could begin by giving to the EU representative in London the full diplomatic privileges for which he has asked. This would allow our own ambassador to the EU to be admitted to high-level meetings in Brussels. I will admit that I have a vague recollection, when foreign secretary, of refusing to enhance the status of a previous incumbent. That was because, when we were in the EU, the pretensions of the EU to be a state, even inside its own member states, was not something we could accept. Now we have left, if they want to designate their officials as ambassadors it costs us nothing to agree.
The second action the UK could take is to offer talks on foreign policy co-operation. This would be a substantial but wholly beneficial change of approach. In an otherwise impressive integrated review the British government’s unwillingness to discuss any framework for working with the EU on its common security and defence policy (CSDP) was an obvious gap. When we were in the EU we necessarily obstructed integration on foreign and defence issues. Now we are outside and cannot be required to do anything against our will we can work with it.
The main threats to our peace and stability are still in our own neighbourhood. If you doubt that, take a look at Russian tanks massing on the Ukrainian border, tensions in the western Balkans or terrorist threats in the Sahel. Our defence is founded on Nato but the EU now has 17 different CSDP missions in troublespots on three continents. The sharing of contingency plans and the option to join an action or expedition would enhance our own security and that of our allies. In return the EU could end its mean-spirited approach to some aspects of trade. Blocking British shellfish exports showed bad faith and could easily be waived while water quality is improved. If it was really clever it would extend “equivalence” to more parts of the City before UK regulation is driven in a different and highly competitive direction.
All these ideas, for both sides, would be mutually beneficial. They are the diplomatic equivalent of taking a bottle of wine round to your difficult neighbours and generously helping them to drink it.
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Most of all both sides need to treat Northern Ireland as a joint and overriding priority. Innovative solutions to the enforcement of the protocol must be found. An open-ended summit involving the prime minister, the Irish prime minister and all parties in the province is needed soon. Recent events there are not merely a reminder of the need for trust in EU-UK relations but something close to a final warning.
Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen no doubt face in-trays piled with the infuriating problems caused by the other. They should take a deep breath, make some generous moves and summon the spirit of George Washington.