Britain would not be able to rejoin the European Union on the special terms it previously enjoyed, according to former EU Brexit officials. The warnings come as senior Labour politicians openly discuss the possibility of returning to the bloc in the future.
Georg Riekeles, a former adviser on the EU’s Brexit taskforce, said member states would take “a very warm, welcoming” stance but also a “hard-headed” one to a British membership application. “There is a strategic need for the EU and the UK to work together, but I don’t think there would be an appetite for opening up new decades of British exceptionalism,” he said. “The price of re-entry would be membership on normal terms.”
Sandro Gozi, Italy’s Europe minister from 2014-18, echoed this view, stating that “the tailor-made suit is gone” and that negotiations would cover all issues foreseen for any candidate. Gozi, now an MEP, predicted EU member states would welcome a British application despite the uncertainty of a possible Nigel Farage premiership.
Wes Streeting, a Labour MP, argued over the weekend that the UK should rejoin the EU in the future, though his allies said this could not happen without an election or referendum. Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, who is seeking a return to Westminster, has previously said he wants Britain to rejoin within his lifetime but clarified he would not pursue this in the short term if he became prime minister.
Poland’s foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, also warned Britain not to expect a similar deal to its “de-facto à la carte membership” of the past. He said British elites needed to “internalise” the fundamental European deal “that you get more benefits in return for pooling of some aspects of sovereignty”.
