Brexit: the departure of the United Kingdom weakens European defense
The departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union cuts the European defense budget by nearly 25%.
REUTERS - PHIL NOBLE
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The United Kingdom therefore exited on January 1, 2021 in a concrete way from the European Union.
The new relationship with the 27 is governed by a trade agreement on the movement of goods and trade in goods.
An agreement which, in reality, signs a minimal relationship with the EU.
Nothing has been signed, for example, on cooperation in foreign policy, foreign security and defense.
Publicity
Read more
The European defense budget was 40 billion euros per year, including 10 billion of the British contribution.
The same as France.
The envelope is therefore cut by a quarter.
In addition to this significant hole, the departure from London, which has never been favorable to a European strategic autonomy, does not rebalance the balance of power within the EU.
Paris is still struggling to convince.
However, the United Kingdom and France keep a common culture: the most important armies in Europe and a global concept of security.
London and Paris do not just look at their near abroad, like the borders of Europe with the Balkans, but are interested in Africa, in Asia and have a culture of outside interventions.
It remains to find a mode of cooperation, and for the moment, Boris Johnson has not given any signals in this direction.
It is even the opposite: at the end of November 2020, the Prime Minister announced the largest increase in the British defense budget in 30 years, and in particular the creation of a new space command to send "
satellites
" into space.
British
”and“
a first British rocket
”in Scotland for 2022.
► To read also:
Brexit: what changes (or not) for trade on January 1
► To discover:
The Brexit dossier of RFI Savoirs
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Brexit
European Union
United Kingdom
Defense