UK could become an 'EU lite' member of bloc, suggests Franco-German report

Source: The Guardian

UK could become an ‘EU lite’ member of bloc, suggests Franco-German report

Blue-sky exercise envisages four levels of membership to allow for countries having looser ties to the union

Lisa O'Carroll in Brussels
@lisaocarroll
Tue 19 Sep 2023 20.48 BST
Last modified on Tue 19 Sep 2023 21.52 BST

A vision of a future EU with four types of membership – including an “EU lite” for countries such as the UK – has been tabled by a group of academics commissioned by France and Germany to consider future reforms.

The proposal comes as the UK’s opposition leader, Keir Starmer, told France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, that he wanted to build an “even stronger” relationship between the two countries if he wins power at a national election pencilled in for next year.

With the Ukraine war accelerating the appetite for enlargement, the EU leadership has acknowledged the urgent need to start thinking about the shape of the bloc, which could increase from 27 members to as many as 36 countries.

A report presented by France and Germany on Tuesday called on EU institutions to pass a raft of reforms to be ready by 2030 to accept new members such as Ukraine.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/19/uk-could-become-an-eu-lite-member-of-bloc-suggests-franco-german-report

Alternate non-walled link: https://archive.li/WqWnn