Yahoo News Cultural clash between Europeans and the British could sink Brexit negotiations
The deed is done – Brexit is under way. With the formal triggering of Article 50, Europe’s leaders barely have time to heave a collective sigh of relief before they steel themselves for the complex and fractious negotiations ahead.
In public, both parties have kept their cards close to their chest. EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the leadership of key member states insisted that no pre-negotiations would take place. Contact over Brexit has been limited to a few informal meetings and phone conversations with Theresa May. Behind the scenes, though, the "Bratislava Process" dedicated to preparing for an EU of 27 has given plenty of opportunity for the remaining member states to air their preferences on Brexit and hammer out a collective negotiating stance with the EU leadership.
Some of the sticking points are obvious: the order of the agenda for the talks; UK’s hope of decoupling free trade and free movement of people; reciprocal rights for UK and EU workers and so on. However, one of the main challenges ahead has slipped under the public radar: European politicians find their UK counterparts very difficult to work with. To them, the British appear arrogant, insensitive and contrary. The reason for this is the yawing gulf that separates Britain and Europe over the rules of political engagement.
The problem is not new. Who could forget the 1984 Fontainebleau summit, the scene of Margaret Thatcher’s demand for a British rebate on her budget payments? In his memoirs, Helmut Kohl, then Chancellor of West Germany, recounted that she was "ice cold in pursuit of her interests". Mrs Thatcher’s leadership style was immortalised in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, which defines the verb "to handbag" as: (of a woman politician), treat (a person, idea etc.) ruthlessly or insensitively. In 2011 David Cameron infuriated his European counterparts by vetoing a reform of the EU Treaties sponsored by Germany’s Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy of France.
For European tastes, the British have been altogether too ready to wield the veto. France in particular was constantly irked by the UK’s veto on budget increases for EU spending on missions overseas. Although well respected for their knowledge and experience, diplomats and officials from other member states found their British counterparts less likely to contribute to discussion papers and constructive problem-solving. The consensus was that the UK adopted radical and rigid positions and was not amenable to compromise.
In Britain, of course, such dogged determination is seen as a political virtue. In fact, our leaders need this quality to flourish in the "Westminster model" of governance.
In Britain, where a single-party government majority is the norm, the ruling party is entitled to govern on its own terms. It largely does so at the expense of the interests of the opposition. Any common ground between the government and the main party of opposition is glossed over, and any differences are exaggerated through practices such as the ritual insults traded in Prime Minister’s Question Time.
In Europe, where most governments must be laboriously pieced together from a coalition of parties, the leading party knows it must respect the interests of its partners both to get into power and to stay there. Leadership in this context demands patience, flexibility and the capacity to negotiate interests that are, if not identical, at least compatible.
Head to head | The Brexit negotiators
This cultural gulf carries over to negotiation etiquette: when to go public, how to frame demands, when and how to flag up the "red lines" marking the boundaries of compromise. In Europe, threatening to walk away before negotiations have even begun would not be seen as a good opening gambit. For Europeans, a good outcome is one that combines as many common interests as possible. For the UK, it means getting our own way.
This explains the mood music we are hearing in Europe, where politicians, journalists and business leaders alike have accused the UK Prime Minister of being out of touch with reality over her Brexit plans. For them, the uncompromising demands in Theresa May's Plan for Britain are unrealistic because they evoke the sense of entitlement rooted in the “winner takes all” British political culture.
There is no mention of what Britain might be prepared to give in order to satisfy her European partners that she won’t get a better deal out of the EU than in it.
By now, European leaders are familiar with Britain’s bullish approach to politics and most are keen to underplay attitudes they find inappropriate. That said, it would be wise for Theresa May to recognise how to do business with Europeans if we are to have a constructive negotiation process.
Dr Patricia Hogwood, is Reader in European Politics at the University of Westminster’s Department of Politics and International Relations.
