‘Real progress’ for UK Foreign Secretary. The latter welcomed this Monday, July 3 in Brussels the appeasement of relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union, this in the wake of the agreement concluded last March concerning the post-Brexit provisions for Ireland North.
“We have seen real progress and I am committed to maintaining this positive trajectory,” James Cleverly told the European Parliament, alongside European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic. “We have to recognize that we won’t agree on everything. But in responsible relationships, we can manage our differences, while making the most of the areas where we agree,” Cleverly told a joint parliamentary committee.
For his part, British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt was in Brussels last week to sign a cooperation agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU on financial services.
The visits come as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak seeks to warm up cross-Channel relations, following the conclusion in March of the Windsor Framework which was aimed at easing post-Brexit tensions on a lasting basis.
This text aims to facilitate the movement of goods within the United Kingdom by avoiding any physical border between Northern Ireland (British province) and the Republic of Ireland (member of the EU) – as provided for by the agreement of the Good Friday which ended three decades of violence on the island.
James Cleverly was also due to visit NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday and meet with its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, ahead of the Alliance summit in Vilnius next week.