‘I want EU back’: UK rejoiners are pining for the reunion of their dreams

This spring, UK rejoiners had their most fervent wishes granted: we now have a party in government whose senior members (or at least some of them) are talking seriously about re-entering the EU, ten years since the referendum which led to a lost decade in the UK, politically and economically.

According to recent polling, 55% of UK citizens want the country to rejoin the EU and a greater number are in favour of closer economic ties. Far from kiboshing the idea, EU representatives are talking seductively about fast-tracking re-entry for the UK, seeing it as “a major victory for the European project”.

On the face of it, support for rejoining is having a big moment – at least in the UK. In reality, this is likely to go nowhere after the Labour party leadership contest concludes. It costs EU mandarins nothing to whisper sweet nothings into our ears, just as it costs Wes Streeting nothing (and may benefit him significantly) to force Andy Burnham into a pro-Brexit position which will be unpopular with Labour’s progressive wing. 

Though a majority of Brits like the idea of rejoining the EU, this sentiment is heavily dependent on maintaining previous opt-outs (such as Margaret Thatcher’s budget rebate, Schengen and asylum carve-outs, and retention of the pound), which is a non-starter for the EU.

The UK’s economic performance since 2016 has not been stellar - but then again, Germany, France and Italy have also underperformed, while the US’s economic potency and productivity has surged. The UK and the EU’s major economies continue to grapple with many of the same issues. We may have been better together – and we may have been able to face our common problems more effectively had we not split - but it is also impossible to step into the same river twice.

Pining for a reunion is self-indulgent and, arguably, is preventing the UK’s political and governing classes from moving on and evolving new ways for the UK to survive and thrive in the long term. Without this, we all – in the UK and EU alike - remain highly vulnerable to left- and right-wing populism.

The UK and Europe will remain in each other’s orbit and, from a geostrategic standpoint, must cooperate closely on areas of shared interest. To do so effectively, we will need to build a new alliance, with a new narrative and shared vision for a future together – which doesn’t try to recapture our lost relationship.