Defeat for Boris Johnson: Brussels bittersweet joy

United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum

all articles

The confirmation of one's own opinion makes one happy - this is currently also observable in Brussels. There is deep satisfaction that the British Supreme Court has declared the decommissioning of Parliament by Boris Johnson illegal. Now, many believe in the rest of the EU, it is also stated in the highest court of law that Johnson is a gossip and a charlatan, who stops at nothing to advance his own career. The British, in turn, now have it in writing that their prime minister has even deceived the Queen.

In the European Parliament, which has persecuted Johnson's actions against the British House of Commons with horror, the joy is especially great. "At least a big relief in the Brexit saga," tweeted Guy Verhofstadt, head of Parliament's Brexit steering group. "The rule of law in the UK is alive and kicking." In addition, he would "never again hear Boris Johnson or any other Brexiteer say that the EU is undemocratic."

President David Sassoli personally had previously strongly criticized Johnson for having put the British Parliament on a forced break: "It's always good for democracy, if you listen to the parliaments," he had tweeted. "So it's better to leave them open." EU Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger even hoped in the SPIEGEL interview for a "democratic uprising" against Johnson. If you like, the judge's verdict is now done.

"In a democracy, you step back now"

Others are demanding Johnson's departure. "In a democracy you step back now," says Jens Geier, head of the German Social Democrats in the European Parliament. Johnson's strategy had not only failed on the whole, but been illegal. "If the Tories are in the rule of law, they can not leave Johnson in office," said Geier. But Philippe Lamberts, who sits for the Greens in the Brexit steering group of the European Parliament, does not believe in Johnson's resignation. "If he was decent, he would not have done what he did," says the Belgian. "And if he's not decent, he will not step back."

The verdict on the actual problem - the stalemate in the negotiations over the EU's exit from the UK - changes practically nothing anyway. The withdrawal agreement negotiated between London and Brussels has been rejected three times by the British House of Commons. This political blockade was "not resolved by the court verdict," says David McAllister (CDU), chief of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.

In the video: compulsory break invalid - for Boris Johnson a disaster

Video

Jason Decrow / AP / DPA

In the medium term, the verdict on the other hand is likely to have consequences for the British drama. Martin Schirdewan, Brexit expert of the Left Party in the European Parliament, even speaks of a "game changer": "The failure of Johnson's entire strategy has massively increased the likelihood of new elections," says Schirdewan. "And such a choice would be something like a second Brexit referendum." Under these circumstances, the other 27 EU member states would have no choice but to agree to a further extension of the Brexit deadline, if only because until the current exit date on 31 October, elections could hardly be organized any more.

"The ball is in the field of the British - as usual"

Even before a possible new election, the court verdict should have another consequence: The room for maneuver for Johnson and his government is shrinking again. "The British government can not make key decisions without a parliamentary majority," says McAllister, knowing that the prime minister is no longer close to having such a majority after he dropped dozens of in-party critics from the faction. Parliament could "now make it clear where the red lines are".

But, Green Party politician Lamberts uses, the lower house would first have to agree on red lines. "But there is still no positive majority for anything there." The fact that the opposition Labor Party was unable to agree on a common Brexit line at its weekend party congress again makes Lamberts more important than the court verdict.

For the EU Commission, Johnson's weakness and chaos in parliament could also be a problem. So far, the Brussels negotiators could not be sure whether Johnson would get an exit agreement - whatever it might be - then through the House of Commons. The court ruling makes this even less likely.

Johnson has not presented anything in Brussels so far, which could significantly change the situation. According to the EU Commission, the latest proposals from the British government do not yet provide a solution to the situation on the Northern Irish border. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Monday after a meeting with Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas as skeptical as rarely about the chances for an agreement.

All options are therefore still on the table: a Brexit with or without agreement on 31 October or the next extension of the time limit. "The ball is as usual in the field of the British," says Danuta Hübner, Brexit representative of the Christian Democratic EPP. "We have to wait patiently again." But to the waiting for the British, so Hübner, "the EU is used".