UK and EU leaders desire a reset after Trump’s win — and now voters need it too

As U.Ok. and EU leaders search to reset relations forward of President-elect Donald Trump‘s return to the White Home, public sentiment additionally seems to be shifting in favor of nearer ties throughout the continent, in line with a brand new survey.

Nearly all of Britons (55%) assume the U.Ok. ought to realign with the EU below a second Trump time period, and prioritize stronger relations with Brussels over the U.S. (17%), analysis from the European Council on Overseas Relations confirmed Thursday. There was additionally reluctance for Britain to observe Trump’s lead on main overseas coverage points corresponding to China and Ukraine.

On the continent, the sensation is mutual, with pluralities of respondents throughout EU international locations — and Germany and Poland specifically — supporting nearer ties with the U.Ok.

The research, carried out within the wake of the U.S. election, seeks to supply the newest image of public opinion on Brexit, greater than eight years after the landmark vote.

The discharge comes days after U.Ok. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves on Monday talked up renewed relations with Brussels throughout a visit to convene along with her EU counterparts — the first such assembly since Britain formally left the bloc in 2020.

“We now not dwell on the earth of Brexit. That world got here to an finish on Nov. 5, 2024,” Mark Leonard, ECFR co-founder and overseas coverage knowledgeable, stated throughout an occasion in London to announce the findings.

“There’s a putting and widely-held want on each side of the channel to get nearer collectively,” he added.

The survey — which polled greater than 9,000 folks throughout the U.Ok., France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain — confirmed a selected willingness for each side to cooperate extra carefully on commerce and safety.

Within the U.Ok., the vast majority of respondents stated they noticed improved ties as helping with their key priorities round migration, safety and the economic system. In the meantime, respondents in Europe stated they had been open to granting the U.Ok. “particular entry” to the EU single market and entry to the bloc’s analysis applications in alternate for higher safety cooperation.

Either side additionally expressed a willingness to contemplate free motion of individuals in alternate for stronger financial ties.

Trump’s Nov. 5 election has added to a sense of unease in Europe, notably round nationwide safety and the influence of potential tariffs, with the president-elect beforehand warning that the EU may very well be topic to new commerce levies to deal with the numerous commerce imbalance.

The U.Ok., in the meantime, which has a much smaller commerce imbalance with the U.S., could also be hoping that its “particular relationship” throughout the Atlantic — and Trump’s affinity for Brexit — are sufficient to spare it from essentially the most punitive of measures.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former prime minister of Denmark and ECFR board trustee, informed CNBC that it was anticipated — and within the U.Ok.’s curiosity — to pursue “as shut a relationship with the U.S. as potential.” However she stated that ought to not preclude shut ties with the EU, too.

“If we’re searching for a reset, it is a good time,” she stated, noting that the present backdrop may truly enhance the U.Ok.’s place when in search of improved relations with the EU. “It is a time the place there’s maybe leverage (for the U.Ok.) to ask for a bit extra.”

Thorning-Schmidt, who was prime minister between 2011 to 2015, acknowledged, nevertheless, that there may very well be some “binary” selections forward as each side search to place themselves below a Trump presidency.

“If there are tariffs coming our approach, will we retaliate? Is that a solution?” Thorning-Schmidt stated.

“If we’re requested to align extra with the U.S. by way of their China coverage, that may very well be a binary alternative as effectively,” she continued.

“And if the U.Ok. is in some way pressured to decide on between the U.S. and EU — which I do not assume they are going to — that is maybe a binary alternative.”