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Macroscope | Public posturing on contested positions carries needless cost

Tense ministerial exchanges show just what it will take to forge a post-Brexit settlement that’s favourable and minimally disruptive for all concerned

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British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was advised in no uncertain terms by his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble recently, to go and read the Lisbon Treaty. Photo: AFP

Almost two months ago this column discussed trade options for the UK outside the EU. A major point was that the outcomes would depend on a lot more than technical common sense.

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The British position has become no clearer since, but there has been some muddying of the politics.

Grandstanding is bad politics. A good result calls for a cooperative and constructive atmosphere that seeks out mutual gain. This is hardly an earth-shattering observation.

Yet the British Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, chose to say publicly that to suggest a link between UK access conditions to the EU single market and free movement of EU citizens among its member states was “absolute baloney”. These two issues, he asserted, had “nothing to do with each other.”

The provocation did not go unanswered by France and Germany. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble suggested that Johnson needed to inform himself about the contents of the EU’s 2009 Lisbon Treaty. He also offered to explain this to him in English.

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These kinds of exchanges are the antithesis of what it will take to forge a post-Brexit settlement that is as favourable and minimally disruptive as possible for all sides.

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