Brussels Keeps Brexit Talks Behind Defence Gate

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, says people in Brussels remain “traumatised” by the difficult negotiations after the United Kingdom left the European Union. Speaking with UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, she said Britain should focus on joining existing EU defence frameworks before starting talks about rejoining the bloc. Brussels is offering a step-by-step path back towards cooperation, not membership negotiations.

“It's up to what UK people and a negotiated agreement – there's a lot of traumatised people in Brussels over Brexit,” Kallas said. “These negotiations will be difficult, and we are not there yet.” She said the two sides should seek a “deeper relationship” because they are “very close” and “stronger together,” but insisted they move step by step.

Defence first, membership later

Streeting also met EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius and was due to meet German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius in Berlin on Monday. The meetings came before an EU-UK summit scheduled for November 20. Both sides want closer cooperation, but they disagree over how to achieve it.

The UK remains committed to exploring closer defence cooperation, Streeting said. London opted out last year of the EU's €150 billion Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defence loan scheme after failing to agree with Brussels on an entry fee estimated at €4 billion to €6 billion. UK sources said at the time that the government considered the fee poor value for money.

The price dispute leaves the shape of cooperation unresolved. Britain sits outside the EU single market, and the UK is also outside the bloc's proposed “Made in Europe” industrial drive, which aims to prioritise European manufacturers in important sectors, including defence. Streeting warned that the initiative could become protectionist. “We need to be careful” that it “doesn't spread into self-defeating protectionism,” he said.

The talks also covered Russia's continued aggression across Europe, including hybrid attacks, and Europe's growing responsibility for military support to Ukraine. Streeting said the continent needed to significantly expand its defence industrial capacity. His warning addressed the bloc's effort to favour European manufacturers, while Britain remains outside the single market that defines its reach.

The return question stays open

Newly elected UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to rebuild relations with the EU through greater cooperation on trade, education, energy and defence. He hasn't ruled out negotiations on Britain's potential return as a full member. Brussels is willing to consider closer integration and potentially entertain a return, but there is strong agreement that reopening membership negotiations would take a long time and prove politically divisive.

Brexit still divides British society, while Europeans remember the cumbersome negotiations. Streeting cautioned against getting ahead of any discussion about a return. He called Burnham's decision to reopen the subject “courageous” and welcomed a “courageous conversation with the European Commission, member states as well as the British people.”

“There's no doubt leaving the EU hit our economy and we're not as strong as we might have been,” Streeting said. For now, the membership debate remains behind defence cooperation, a contested loan scheme and the next summit. Kallas's message was clear: negotiations that could decide Britain's place in the bloc aren't yet on the table.