French President Emmanuel Macron believes his plans for European integration cannot work without British involvement.
The European Intervention Initiative (EII) which the French globalist outlined in September 2017 would see European countries form a “common intervention force” and encourage EU member states “to better integrate our armed forces at every stage”.
The proposal was followed by the agreement of a “historic” military pact between 23 of the European Union’s 27 member-states (minus the United Kingdom), called the Permanent Structured Cooperation process, or PESCO, in November.
Pro-Brexit politicians and veterans warned that there was every chance the United Kingdom might be sucked into the scheme, either formally or informally, with the Veterans for Britain group taking the Civil Service to task repeatedly for signing the United Kingdom up to all manner of European integration schemes which will persist beyond Brexit.
“Macron realises that any European initiative for the foreseeable future will not work without UK presence,” defence analyst Francis Tusa told the establishment Financial Times.
“He is a pragmatist. His military are telling him: if you want this to work, then you need the Brits involved.”
Tusa’s assessment comes as Lord Ricketts, a former ambassador to the French Republic, warned that Macron’s determination to accelerate the process of European military integration — which former deputy prime minister and Remain campaigner Nick Clegg once dismissed as “fantasy” — could lead to a weakening of the strategic relationship between Britain and France, with the British being “uncomfortable” with Macron’s ambitions.
“Brexit will not weaken the case for close UK-French defence and security cooperation but it will change the context and create the risk of the two countries drifting apart,” he said.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence has issued a vague statement, which notes simply that the United Kingdom “is fully committed to the security of Europe and we continue to preserve a close relationship with our European allies”.