Government says UK & EU will be “stronger acting together” on sanctions & foreign policy post Brexit

Posted on 12 Sep 2017 by Brick Court

Maya Lester QC

The Department for Exiting the European Union has published a position paper today (one of a number of its Brexit position papers) entitled ‘Foreign policy, defence and development: a future partnership paper’ in which it “discusses options for foreign policy, defence and development collaboration in the future partnership”.  Link here. Key points in the paper are that:

1. The UK has been central to EU foreign policy, including as regards sanctions where the UK:

• “has been the most active Member State in proposing autonomous EU sanctions as a foreign policy tool”;
• “has also been able to encourage cooperation between the EU and like-minded partners, including the United States, increasing the reach and impact of agreed measures”; and
• many of the asset freezes applied to terrorist organisations by the EU are based on UK national proscriptions or asset freezes.

2. “The UK and EU will be stronger acting together.” “Given the shared threats and challenges we face, and the UK’s deep commitment to European values, it is in the interests of both the UK and the EU to continue to work together to meet the challenges of the day, including by “upholding the rules-based international order through aligning sanctions regimes”. “The UK and the EU should remain close partners in foreign policy issues.”
3. The UK “is establishing its own national legal framework for sanctions” (see previous European Sanctions blog) “but continues to see a strong mutual interest in cooperation and collaboration with European partners.” This could be done through “regular dialogue and specific cooperation. The UK and the EU should have regular close consultations on foreign and security policy issues, with the option to agree joint positions on foreign policy issues. This could include cooperation on sanctions listings, including by sharing information and aligning policy where appropriate.”