Post-Brexit Foreign, Security and Defence Co-operation: We Don’t Want to Talk About It

Summary:

The government of Boris Johnson sees little added value in a contractual arrangement with the EU on foreign, security and defence policy co-operation. It believes that the UK can instead work bilaterally with major EU member-states, who will then bring the rest of the member-states and the EU institutions into line. The Johnson government’s scepticism about binding external security co-operation arrangements has some justification. The EU has diverse arrangements for foreign, security and defence co-operation with partners, from informal to treaty-based. But even legally-binding consultation mechanisms give third countries little added influence in EU decision-making, while the cost of not having a formal arrangement is minimal.

• Primary Source

• Alternative Source

ESO Records

Cardiff EDC, 2020 : Negotiations on the future relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom https://www.europeansources.info/record/negotiations-on-the-future-relationship-between-the-european-union-and-the-united-kingdom/

---