EU considers closer economic ties with UK to reduce reliance on rivals

The EU is weighing closer economic cooperation with the U.K. to reduce dependence on hostile powers and trade rivals, one of the top politicians responsible for the negotiations said Tuesday, a decade after Britain left the bloc.

Speaking at POLITICO’s Playbook Live Summit in Brussels, Finnish MEP Mika Aaltola — a member of the European People’s Party and vice-chair of the Parliament’s delegation for relations with the U.K. — said the EU is at “the conceptual drawing board” stage when it comes to relations with like-minded partners.

While Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an “associate membership” bid for Canada in her State of the Union speech, Aaltola said that “clearly, now things are being a little bit discussed when it comes to [the] U.K.”

This, he said, could include “sectoral” deals, or “some kind of a market freedom of markets type of arrangement, like with Switzerland.”

“We need these visions because we are stuck, pretty much,” he added, between threats from Russia and increasingly tense relations with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. “The world order is changing in front of our eyes. U.S.A. is losing a war with Iran. Russia is losing a war. You know, great powers are actually losing positions.”

Von der Leyen’s offer to Canada, as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government navigates an escalating trade war with Washington, is part of a push for stronger relations with democratic, pro-free-trade states. However, Brussels has been quick to play down the prospects of the U.K. being offered associate membership, which it says is reserved for countries that cannot geographically join the EU.

The U.K. and EU have long been planning a summit designed to reset relations. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said at the United Nations in New York: “Our focus at the moment is on a U.K.-EU summit which we hope will take place later this year.”