Four months from now, 1st of July, Denmark will take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU from the current Polish presidency. As such, Denmark will once again be in the driving seat for six months. Although you are supposed to and expected to pursue the overall interest of the EU and certainly not more narrow national policy agendas, you do have some influence on priorities especially if you are aligned with the presidency just before and after.
Top of the list of priorities for the Polish Presidency are defense and security, protection of people and borders, and resistance to foreign interference and disinformation. The Danish Presidency is likely to mirror these priorities to a significant degree for obvious reasons.
The breakdown of the post-WW2 Atlantic security architecture is unfolding before our surprising eyes. It´s not the end of the world, but it might be the end of the world as we know it. Consequently, the foreign policy compass used to navigate international politics in all of Europe needs to be urgently recalibrated. This includes a 360-degree evaluation of the foreign policy of the European Union which in turn includes a revisit of the UK-EU relationship negotiated following Brexit.
Now more than ever the EU needs the UK, and the UK needs the EU. In the short to medium term any attempt to boost EU´s military strength to an extent that can serve as a deterrent to Russia is doomed to failure without the British, which still has the strongest military in Europe. Globally, the UK currently ranks about 5th or 6th in terms of military strength ahead of all other European countries.
Despite its low growth and political instability in recent years, the UK is still one of the most innovative countries and for instance, home to the Golden Triangle technology, innovation, and science cluster made up of Oxford, Cambridge, and London, which is unmatched in the EU. Despite all the setbacks and ill-advised policy decisions Britain is still Britain!
That the UK needs the EU has been painfully clear after Brexit. The British are still paying for that decision every day, and most would probably agree that the benefits of Brexit was somewhat exaggerated and the downside to going solo was somewhat downplayed. Recent opinion polls suggest that a consistent majority now regrets Brexit.
The 2026 Brexit vote was close. The UK voted to leave the European Union by 51.89% for Leave to 48.11% for Remain, a margin of 3.78%. Almost 9 years have passed and because British youth voted overwhelmingly in favor of Europe. It was their parents and grandparents who voted to leave and decided to turn back time and go back to the imaginary time of splendid isolation.
Also, for this reason, there is reason to believe the 2026 Brexit majority is a permanent thing of the past. The attractiveness of going solo in an increasingly insecure geopolitical order faced by existential external threats economically as well as militarily is diminishing day by day, and British youth – the electorate of tomorrow – want their European future back.
Any decision and discussion to reconsider Brexit must of course begin in the UK. But we in the EU could start by agreeing to let bygones be bygones, adopt a less confrontational approach and clearly signal that a closer partnership with the UK with the potential to rejoin on special and friendly terms is more than welcome.
This could and should be a visionary element of the upcoming Danish EU-presidency starting 1st of July 2025. No single political decision would both strengthen the EU more and support long-term Danish foreign policy objectives more than the decision to reverse Brexit. Let´s therefore at least light the beacon and help the British to find their way back to Europe! They might no longer rule the waves, but they can hopefully still set the course!
