The recent behavior of UK Prime Minister Theresa May's government suggests that it is putting US President Donald Trump's political interests before those of the EU and the rest of the world. But now more than ever, Britain and the EU must defend and promote liberal democratic norms, not embrace populists’ narcissistic nationalism.
BRUSSELS – In the same week that British Prime Minister Theresa May outlined her vision for a “hard” Brexit from the European Union – withdrawing from the single market and the customs union – incoming US President Donald Trump met with Michael Gove, a leading Tory Euroskeptic. Gove was on hand for Trump’s public announcement that the United States would move “very quickly” to reach a post-Brexit trade deal with the United Kingdom.
Not surprisingly, the UK’s Brexiteers are now touting a hypothetical trade deal with the US as a way to fill Britain’s post-EU trade vacuum. But this could prove to be a hollow solution, given that the UK maintains a trade surplus with the US, and Trump is a vocal critic of American trade deficits. Meanwhile, many observers in continental Europe are wondering if the UK’s pursuit of a bilateral deal with the US is just about economics, or if it implies a broader shift in British foreign policy.
The May government’s recent behavior suggests that it is putting the new US administration’s interests before those of the EU and the rest of the world. This approach was on full display in December, when May criticized then-US Secretary of State John Kerry’s condemnation of Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. But perhaps May’s unorthodox intervention should not have come as a surprise, given that Trump tends to reward such disruptive behavior.
BRUSSELS – In the same week that British Prime Minister Theresa May outlined her vision for a “hard” Brexit from the European Union – withdrawing from the single market and the customs union – incoming US President Donald Trump met with Michael Gove, a leading Tory Euroskeptic. Gove was on hand for Trump’s public announcement that the United States would move “very quickly” to reach a post-Brexit trade deal with the United Kingdom.
Not surprisingly, the UK’s Brexiteers are now touting a hypothetical trade deal with the US as a way to fill Britain’s post-EU trade vacuum. But this could prove to be a hollow solution, given that the UK maintains a trade surplus with the US, and Trump is a vocal critic of American trade deficits. Meanwhile, many observers in continental Europe are wondering if the UK’s pursuit of a bilateral deal with the US is just about economics, or if it implies a broader shift in British foreign policy.
The May government’s recent behavior suggests that it is putting the new US administration’s interests before those of the EU and the rest of the world. This approach was on full display in December, when May criticized then-US Secretary of State John Kerry’s condemnation of Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. But perhaps May’s unorthodox intervention should not have come as a surprise, given that Trump tends to reward such disruptive behavior.