Such was his impact on fraying ties between Britain and the EU that after Johnson was forced to announce on Thursday that he would resign, the news caused little public joy in EU circles. Instead, there was simply a numb acceptance of the inevitable. and the resignation that things will never be the same. “I will not miss him,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said, underscoring an open defiance not seen since Europeans welcomed Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 US election. And while transatlantic relations have grown rapidly since arrival of President Joe Biden, don’t expect anything similar from a new British leader, politicians and experts said. Story continues below ad
Read more: Boris Johnson agrees to step down, will remain PM for now
“Even with a new prime minister, I think there will probably be little change in the British government’s position” on the main Brexit issues causing the current disagreements, said David McAllister, the top EU lawmaker dealing with the UK . Guy Verhofstadt, who was the EU’s top lawmaker throughout the Brexit divorce process, said Johnson’s impact was such that there was no chance another Conservative prime minister would steer a fundamentally different course. “No one is under any illusion that Johnson’s departure from Downing Street solves any of the underlying problems in the UK-EU relationship,” Verhofstadt wrote in an opinion piece for The Guardian. “The damage done by the outgoing prime minister, through the work he instrumentalized to gain power, continues.” 1:40 “Them’s the breaks”: Boris Johnson resigns as British prime minister, will serve until November “Them’s the breaks”: Boris Johnson resigns as British prime minister, will serve until November The UK has always been a half-hearted member of the EU since joining the bloc in 1973. When Johnson joined the Brussels press corps some three decades ago, he often regaled his domestic readership with stories that had two fundamental elements: they put the EU in the darkest lights, and had little to do with reality. Trending Stories
Rogers CEO apologizes, says ‘maintenance upgrade’ behind major outage Convoy organizers discussed playing ‘race card’ with Lich’s Métis heritage
Story continues below ad As a Conservative politician, he threw his weight behind the arguments for leaving the bloc in the 2016 referendum on the UK’s EU membership. Johnson used his air and jokey style to sell the benefits of leaving the EU, sometimes ignoring the facts. It was key to the Brexit campaign’s victory in the 2016 Brexit referendum. But the disdain was never deeper than earlier this year, when he began moves to unilaterally rewrite parts of the post-Brexit deal he signed with the 27-nation bloc. The agreement created a special system in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, so trade with the Republic of Ireland – an EU member – could continue without the creation of a physical border. “I was there face to face with him. Line by line, party by party and he doesn’t want to respect it,” chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier recalled on Friday, still bewildered by Johnson’s tactics. “The reputational damage has been enormous in a country and society that has long prided itself on a deep culture of ‘My word is my bond’ without even a written convention, let alone an international treaty,” said the Center’s Michael Emerson for Europe. Policy Studies.
Read more: After UK’s Boris Johnson resigns, who could be next prime minister?
The bill to unilaterally tear up the Northern Ireland trade deal is still in the House of Commons and there is some long-held hope that London can step back from the brink. Story continues below ad “They have this law in Parliament, so they are taking steps in this direction. But they have not crossed the line,” said Jan Lipavský, the foreign minister of the Czech Republic, which holds the EU presidency and is better known in English as the Czech Republic. However, a quick look at the potential candidates for office does not inspire hope of any fundamental change, as they include several Conservatives who have spent years immersed in Johnson’s confrontational Brexit strategies. “If you look at the potential successors, there is no one who will actually break the Brexit line,” said Rem Korteweg of the Clingendael Institute in The Hague, Netherlands. “The Conservative Party has a Brexit mainstream core that you will need to convince to become prime minister.” 1:21 ‘I take full responsibility’: British PM Boris Johnson responds to Partygate after new independent report ‘I take full responsibility’: British PM Boris Johnson responds to Partygate after new independent report – May 25, 2022 Although the early years of Brexit have delivered anything but the largesse Johnson promised, any potential attempt to return the UK to the EU is just as well, with the main opposition Labor Party now focused on capitalizing on Brexit. state instead. Story continues below ad Not that the EU would even want to welcome the country with open arms. With Ukraine, economic issues caused by inflation and immigration problems, “their plate is full,” Korteweg said. “They really don’t expect talks with the British, who will be looking for exceptions and exemptions anyway,” he said. Barnier, who led the EU in Brexit talks for years, doesn’t see it happening. “It is not an issue at hand,” Barnier told Sud Radio. “Frankly, what we need is a state of mind where the British government respects the terms it negotiated.” © 2022 The Canadian Press
