15 March 2024

EIAG's Dashwood: An Ambitious Form of UK/EU Cooperation on Foreign, Security and Defence Policy – Why and How

How I understand the notion of structured cooperation in this context; Why the FSD policy area should be seen as suitable for an ambitious form of structured cooperation between the UK and the EU; How to set about establishing such cooperation.

I am going to explore, in broad outline, three issues that arise in connection with the suggestion that the UK and the EU should engage in an ambitious form of structured cooperation on foreign, security and defence policy (FSD policy, for short):

• How I understand the notion of structured cooperation in this context.
• Why the FSD policy area should be seen as suitable for an ambitious form of structured cooperation between the UK and the EU.
• How to set about establishing such cooperation.

(1) Notion of structured cooperation on FSD policy

First, then, the notion of structured cooperation on FSD policy.

Structured cooperation is not a term of art. For present purposes, I understand the notion as referring to an agreed framework organising collaborative activity between the UK and the EU of the following kinds: the systematic exchange of information about future policy intentions in the FSD field, covering both broad strategies and specific initiatives; regular meetings, whether to consider a range of available options or to discuss particular proposals regarding FSD policy, in advance of any decision  being taken on them; and, where appropriate, the coordination of, or joint participation in, the implementation of decisions on matters falling within FSD policy.

Cooperation implies working together to address issues of common concern, while respecting the sovereign right of each Party to determine the course of action it judges to be in its best interests. Process is important, but it is outcomes that really matter. The framework must be designed to create conditions encouraging a serious effort by the Parties to reach common ground.

An “ambitious” form of structured cooperation on FSD policy would be one that organises contacts between the UK and the EU in this policy area with a regularity and at a level of intensity significantly higher than that under arrangements between the EU and third countries in general.

All of that may seem rather vague but I aim to put some flesh on the bones in the course of my talk.

 

(2) Why structured UK/EU cooperation on FSD policy?

Moving on to my second issue. Why single out FSD policy as a suitable area in which to establish an ambitious form of structured cooperation between the EU and the UK?

There are bound to be hesitations about embarking on any new forms of UK/EU cooperation outside the structures of the Withdrawal Agreement and the TCA. On the UK side, fear of provoking allegations of betraying the will of the British people expressed in the 2016 Referendum. And that would be a concern for both the Conservatives, with the European Research Group (ERG) and Reform snapping at their heels, and for Labour with its need to assuage the Euroscepticism of the Red Wall. While on the EU side, there is the loss of trust in the UK, in the light of Brexit and the behaviour of the Johnson Government over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Relations are certainly warmer than they were, now that the Northern Ireland dispute has been resolved by the agreement in Feb 2023 on the Windsor Framework; as for the further twiddles to the implementation of the Framework that have at last brought the DUP back into the devolved government, these must have been run past Brussels, since we have heard no complaints from there about them. And there have been other positive developments during 2023: notably, the signing in June of the MOU on Financial Services Cooperation and the agreement in September on the terms of the UK’s association with the Horizon and Copernicus scientific programmes. Nevertheless, there is still some way to go in rebuilding trust among the EU and its Member States, in the UK as a reliable international partner.

So, what are the reasons for supposing that, despite those understandable hesitations, the establishment of structured cooperation on FSD policy is a feasible project? I can think of four reasons....

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