The EU Commission Should Continue to Collaborate with Great Britain
European IntegrationZEW President Achim Wambach on Boris Johnson Winning the Tory Leadership Vote
The British Conservative Party elected Boris Johnson as its new leader. He will soon also take over the office of British Prime Minister. The President of the ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, Professor Achim Wambach, comments on this matter.
“With Boris Johnson, a campaigner for the Leave movement becomes the next Prime Minister of Great Britain. This could advance the Brexit process, as Boris Johnson, unlike Theresa May, does not have to fight the opposition from the Brexiteer camp. This may make it easier for him to get a withdrawal agreement through Parliament.
The European Commission should seize this opportunity and continue to collaborate with Britain. The room for manoeuvre in the political declaration on the withdrawal agreement should, for example, be used to explore technical solutions for the Irish border more thoroughly, and to establish more clarity for a future agreement with Great Britain that will enable the British to pursue an independent trade policy. If the time until the end of October, the UK’s scheduled departure date, is not sufficient to reach agreement on these points, the EU Commission should offer to extend the deadline once again.”