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EU open to flexibility on euro and Schengen if UK tries to rejoin
(www.politico.eu)
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this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2026
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It's not a punishment to get a normal treatment instead of preferential treatment. If we go out of our ways to let you in at any costs, as suggested in the article, we're making all 26 current EU countries inclined to do the same shit whenever they get similar populists in charge. That will eventually tear the EU apart. Coming and going, and then getting a goddamn prize in the form of preferential treatment for having done that, is not something we should allow. Leaving should really mean leaving for good. Okay, if things change, welcome back, but why should we go with a very bad deal we were forced to accept in the 1970's when we were much weaker and had no other option? Now we can survive without the UK just fine, so we shouldn't just bow ourself into a knot in front of them like we did half a century ago. Welcome back, of course, but only with the usual rules that apply to everyone else as well.
And, I must say, I keep seeing British people see being treated normally as a punishment. That's some heavy level of exceptionalism. I keep seeing that attitude, and it's not an attitude I want to see in a EU member state. English people who are saying shit like "EU just wants to punish the UK for Brexit" when what is being talked about is just not giving them weird exemptions or other kinds of preferential treatment that puts them over other countries, do a good job shifting my thinking from "you're welcome to join" towards "rather not."
I'm not in any way after "preferential treatment". I pointed out that there are several EU countries already who, as far as I'm aware, have no plans to adopt the euro. It seems Denmark has a permanent opt-out, while Sweden and Poland are deliberately delaying euro adoption forever, until their people support euro adoption in referendums.
I don't believe you should.
Anyway, I think the EU has made sensible comments on relations with the UK recently. So I don't think the EU currently wants to punish the UK, which is good. But I get the sense from some people (not from the EU itself) that they want to punish the UK. An attitude of "yeah fuck them, Europe-hating backstabbers". It's of course true that some Brits don't like the EU, and they still support Brexit, but it's also true that there are Brits who want closer relations with the EU, in a way that is agreeable to both sides, rather than one side dominating or punishing the other.
Good, thanks for the reply! ๐
I wasn't thinking "EU wants to punish UK" means something else than EU as institution. Need to figure out if it's more common that people actually mean that they've seen such atmosphere among people who are or claim to be EU citizens.
(Also, I wonder what share of the more vicious "punish UK!!" people are trolls working at the St. Petersburg troll farm!)
True I used the words "if the EU just wants to punish the UK" but I guess I meant if hypothetically the EU wanted to punish the UK. The post I responded to said: "Fuck no. Full EU or stay out.", and I suppose if the EU adopted words like that, maybe it seems a bit hostile. I definitely get the point about fairness among EU countries of course. If other EU countries had to sign up to certain terms (Schengen Area, adopting the euro) then yes it makes sense to present the same terms to the UK.
But I guess there has already been flexibility in the EU. They're not compelling Poland and Sweden to adopt the euro, right? Even if those countries are technically supposed to adopt the euro. Also maybe it's a matter of opinion whether Denmark's permanent opt-out from the euro is fair. You could say "it's fair because those are the terms Denmark agreed to". Or you could say "it's not fair because more recent EU joiners weren't offered those same terms".
If all EU members and potential members have the same joining terms then yes that seems fair. Anyway, the UK is surely not going to rejoin the EU anytime soon. It could happen one day, and maybe that would involve the UK adopting the euro, but before then I think gradually closer relations are probably likely.
Denmark got an official permission to remain out of Euro, BTW!
Sweden didn't. Instead, evey so often, for a very short time, they "accidentally" make their currency's exchange rate fluctuate just a tiny bit more than allowed, meaning the currency is not stable enough and they are forbidden to join the euro :D
"Oh, you were doing so well for 364 days. What a coincidence that just on your last day of your probation this happened to you. Again."
It's something of a mad game they are playing :D
Yeah I thought it was something like that. So if the EU did offer membership terms to the UK, I wonder whether it would be "you have to join the euro within 5 years", or whether it would be "you're supposed to join the euro but you can postpone it forever like Sweden does". I guess it's unlikely that Denmark's opt-out from the euro would be offered to any other country because it hasn't been offered to recent countries.
I think it would be "you need to join Euro within 5 years", but there are no sanctions for your currency being too unstable for 0.1 % of the time and you thus being refused admittance to the Eurozone. The admittance must be refused under those circumstances โ according to the current rules. They can.of course be changed, but that will then affect everyone, including Poland, UK, Czechia and Sweden (but not Denmark, because it has been relieved of that requirement).