London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

'No time to waste on Brexit': EU uneasy about Truss as UK leader

'No time to waste on Brexit': EU uneasy about Truss as UK leader

Europe is anticipating the prospect of Liz Truss as Britain's next prime minister with a mixture of irritation and unease: diplomats say that with the war in Ukraine and rampant inflation, the last thing they need is another Brexit battle.

Frontrunner in a ruling Conservative party contest to succeed Boris Johnson, Truss has few admirers across the 27-nation European Union to start with.
As foreign minister, she championed legislation that would unilaterally tear up part of Britain's divorce deal with the EU and has promised, as prime minister, to get it passed - a move that would put London on a collision course with Brussels.

Her rhetoric during the leadership campaign, while aimed at members of her party who enjoy some bad-mouthing of France and the EU in general, will have done little to help.
Asked last month whether French President Emmanuel Macron was a "friend or foe" of Britain, she replied: "The jury's out".

"In the current context, it's baffling she thinks she can afford to make remarks like this," one Brussels-based diplomat said. "We're focused 200% on the war in Ukraine, widespread inflation. We have no time to waste on this."

Truss campaign officials said the comments were a "joke" and unlikely to have a lasting impact on Franco-British relations.

Still, a French government source said the comments underlined the lack of trust between Paris and London, which has been stoked by accusations that Macron has not done enough to stem the flow of migrants crossing by boat to English shores.

BRACING FOR A ROUGH RIDE


In Germany, members of the ruling coalition have not been impressed by Truss and bemoan what they see as EU-bashing to distract from mounting British domestic issues.

"One must also give the new prime minister a chance," said Nils Schmid, foreign policy spokesperson for the ruling Social Democrat party. "But anyone who believed that things could not get any worse after Johnson is being proved wrong. Many of Mrs. Truss' statements are unfortunate or wrong."

EU diplomats say that although Truss was originally opposed to Britain's exit from the bloc ahead of the 2016 Brexit referendum, she wholeheartedly backed it as a member of Johnson's cabinet, and so is unlikely to bring a more conciliatory approach to thorny post-Brexit issues.

Britain left the bloc on Jan. 31, 2020, but has been mired since then in a dispute over the rules it had agreed to on trading arrangements for the province of Northern Ireland.

Under the Brexit deal's Northern Ireland Protocol, the province remained in the EU single market for goods and customs union, preserving its open border with EU member Ireland.

Britain says that arrangement, which effectively puts a customs border in the Irish Sea, is unworkable and the bill now going through parliament would tear it apart.

The EU has already launched legal proceedings for breaches of what it maintains is a binding treaty.

However, Truss appears determined to press on with the bill and - according to some reports - could trigger a so-called "Article 16" emergency provision to take unilateral action on Northern Ireland within days of taking office next week.

That would ramp up tensions with the EU's executive, the European Commission, and could ultimately lead to a trade war, with the EU imposing tariffs on British goods.

"The Commission will be on the frontline and would have a very firm response," the Brussels-based diplomat said. "Europeans are all on the same firm line."

A Truss campaign team member said she was hoping that a change of government would bring a reset with Europe, but while she would prefer a negotiated settlement of the Northern Ireland impasse, taking the "Article 16" route was an option.

"This will not be the default option, but we won't shy away from taking difficult decisions," the official said.

One veteran Brussels ambassador said Europeans were bracing for a rough ride: "It's going to be rock and roll," he said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
×