‘Halting a divorce does not create a honeymoon’
Sir Julian King, the UK’s last commissioner, departs with a swipe against a second referendum – and a warning over migration tensions
The new European Commission will inherit an EU bitterly divided over migration and between Eastern and Western governments, Britain’s last ever commissioner has warned.
Sir Julian King told The Sunday
Telegraph, as he cleared out the UK’s office for a final time, that the tussle over how to deal with the refugee crisis would continue to pose the greatest challenge to an increasingly fragmented European Parliament.
Sir Julian is the last of 15 commissioners sent to Brussels by Downing Street since 1975. He served under Jean-Claude Juncker for two and a half years after Jonathan Hill, his predecessor, resigned shortly after the vote for Brexit.
Ursula von der Leyen takes over the presidency of the new commission today. Boris Johnson has refused to name a British commissioner in the new executive for the two months before the Brexit deadline of Jan 31, which Sir Julian called “the logical consequence of the referendum”.
Breaking his silence on Brexit for the first time, Sir Julian said he did not support a second referendum, which he says could prove divisive and unpredictable – a position that has “cost him some friends”.
“If it happens, then you just need to be a little bit careful what you wish for. Stopping or even reversing a divorce is not the same as starting the honeymoon again,” he said.
The career diplomat urged the next British government to take a conciliatory approach in trade negotiations with Brussels, insisting the European Commission “was not anti-UK”, and prioritise repairing damaged relations with Dublin.
Sir Julian revealed that he warned Mr Juncker that the troubled history of Ireland and Northern Ireland could not be solved with a legal text such as the Irish border backstop.
Sir Julian spoke warmly of Mr Juncker, who could have anointed him commissioner for “cleaning windows”. Instead, with Europe rocked by a succession of brutal terror attacks, he was put in charge of security.
“I didn’t plan to come here. I got lucky with Jean-Claude Juncker. We are all going to miss him.”
When he heard that his British commissioner had some Union Jack cushions in his office, Mr Juncker sent him some EU cushions to complement them.
“He is not a modern manager, but he is very human and one of the things I will miss I guess is regular hugs and the occasional kiss,” Sir Julian said.
Reflecting on more than 40 years of Britain’s EU membership, Sir Julian said the country should be proud of its role in driving forward the enlargement of the bloc to countries who had been behind the Iron Curtain.
“We actually managed to reach out and embrace over 100million people who had been left on the wrong side of history,” he said.
The 55-year-old said the EU faced tough choices over its future, including whether to lurch towards protectionism and how to balance economic policies in a bloc with fiscally disciplined countries and those with large public deficits.
“The incoming commission are going to have a challenge. We should all wish them well, because whatever happens we are still going to be neighbours with the EU,” he said, pointing to a divided European Parliament and fragmented politics across European countries. “There is still tension between the West and the East.
“This is a deep issue that will take time to address,” the former UK ambassador to France and Ireland said.
People in Eastern European countries, some of which have faced European Commission action over the rule of law, felt there was double standards at work with Western countries treated more leniently, he added.
Sir Julian said EU member states’ attitudes towards migration remained entrenched.
“There is still going to be some tension among countries around that, because migration isn’t going away either,” he said.
There would be a “difficult debate” between those calling for Europe to develop “muscle” and “a sovereign approach” to trade and those who believe “it would be a mistake to retreat behind the walls of protectionism”.
Britain needed to convince the EU that any free trade agreement, which would ideally include security co-operation and research, was in the EU’s interest.
“This place is not anti-UK, it really isn’t. But it does seek to defend, protect and promote EU interests. That is what it is there for. That’s its job,” Sir Julian said, surrounded by boxes of his belongings.
“If you just take it on frontally and say ‘I am going to try and defeat your interests’, then you are going to find it very difficult to make progress.” Sir
Julian said it was possible to strike a trade deal with the EU in the 11-month transition period, triggered if Britain leaves at the end of January. Michel Barnier has warned that will prove very difficult but Mr Johnson has made it a Tory manifesto promise not to extend the period.
“Trade negotiations are inherently very difficult. Yes, you can do something in a year. You can have a deal in a year. The question is, what is in it?” Sir Julian, who served under Peter Mandelson when he was the EU trade commissioner, said.
During his time in office, Sir Julian said he was glad that he was able to improve intelligence-sharing on counter-terrorism in Europe and work on cyber-attacks and disinformation.
“I am glad we have been able to do some constructive stuff, nobody assumed the last British commissioner would be able to do that,” he said.
Sir Julian thought he would be stepping down on March 29 this year but that Brexit deadline was extended, forcing him to cancel a holiday on a sun-kissed island.
This time round he is playing it safe and not making any similar plans. He won’t be leaving Brussels because his wife is a Danish EU official.
Asked if he thought Britain could ever rejoin the EU, Sir Julian said, “I am Britain’s last commissioner.
“There’s certainly going to be a break in the succession of 15 commissioners – and it starts this afternoon.”
He added, “I won’t have any regrets. It is over. Move on.”
‘Trade negotiations are inherently very difficult. Yes, you can do something in a year. You can have a deal in a year. The question is, what is in it?’