A.When the post-Brexit deal was agreed in December, Boris Johnson assured Europeans that Britain would become the “best friend” the EU could wish for. Where this friendship ends can now be inferred from a letter that EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell sent to British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab. According to the BBC, which saw the letter, Borrell protested the UK government’s refusal to grant full diplomatic status to the new EU ambassador in London, Joao Vale de Almeida.
Apparently, the dispute over the status of the ambassador began before the trade agreement was sealed, as Borrell’s written “concerns” about the British point of view date back to November. Not much has changed since then. According to British newspaper reports, the government insists that it would set a precedent if it treated Almeida and its 25 employees like diplomats of a nation-state. The argument goes that other international organizations would also want to be upgraded and run as diplomats under the Vienna Convention.
Several international organizations are registered as diplomatic organizations in the Kingdom, but their employees do not enjoy immunity, for example from prosecution or imprisonment. A government spokesman said Thursday that the Foreign Ministry was continuing to work with the EU on a “long-term arrangement” for representation. Without wanting to anticipate the outcome, everyone in the London EU delegation would receive “the privileges and immunities that are necessary for their work”. Whether he meant full diplomatic status by that remained unclear.
The EU representation in the London district of Westminster had until Brexit – as in all member states – rather the task of an information authority. Now she works as a diplomatic mission in a so-called third country. With Vale de Almeida, the EU sent one of its most experienced and respected foreign workers. He previously headed the EU delegations in Washington and New York (UN). From Brussels’ perspective, the EU differs from an international organization because it has its own legal system and can issue legal acts.
The EEAS is represented in more than 140 countries
EU diplomats point out that London is measuring by two standards. When the EU launched its “European External Action Service” (EEAS) ten years ago, the British also supported the claim that the new EU diplomats abroad would be granted “privileges and immunities” derived from the Vienna Convention . The service was built up in the first few years by the British Cathy Ashton. The EEAS is now represented in more than 140 countries. Its employees enjoy the same rights everywhere as diplomats sent by nation states. Only in Trump’s America were EU diplomats once downgraded; after just under a year, the government lifted the measure.
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A Commission spokesman in Brussels said on Thursday: “As a signatory to the Lisbon Treaty, the United Kingdom knows very well the status of the EU in external relations and also supported this status when it was a member of the EU.” He recalled that this status recognized by governments and international organizations around the world and urged the UK government to “do the same with the EU delegation immediately”.
Criticism also comes from London
In Brussels, the attitude of London is not only perceived as “petty”, as a diplomat told the BBC. Apparently, there are also fears that other countries might refer to the British example. But criticism was also loud in London. The conservative Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the defense committee in the lower house, attested the government a “narrow-minded” attitude. Lord Adonis, who sits in the House of Lords for the Labor Party and is one of the most passionate opponents of Brexit, said on Thursday: “Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab have decided not only to leave the EU, but to insult them. Very unwise. “
For the newspaper “The Guardian” the dispute reflects a “greater British ambivalence” in the desired foreign policy cooperation. What is meant is the tendency of the government to prefer to work together at the national level or in the so-called E-3 format (with Germany and France), which from London’s point of view has proven particularly useful in Iran policy. For the time being, Great Britain is at least sticking to the tradition of letting the European Union take part in the G7 summit. When the heads of state and government of the seven economically strongest democracies meet in Cornwall in June under the British Presidency, the highest EU representatives will also be at the table.
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