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The agreement between the EU and Britain is in place, and no one should be as relieved as British Prime Minister Johnson. Because without an agreement, his image would have been deeply scratched.
A Comment from Thomas Spickhofen, ARD-Studio London
No one needed this deal more than Boris Johnson. He has promised a lot, and so far he has saved little: I could only think of empty sentences about Brexit, the crown crisis hit the kingdom a second time in full force. It will shape everyday life for months to come. The prime minister wanders between hope and despair, and many compatriots find his cracked optimism only cynical.
Breaking the bridges between the UK and its most important trading partner, the EU, in this situation would not have given Johnson a positive outlook for the near future, nor would it have made a glamorous entry into the history books.
Every contract requires commitments
Boris Johnson will now sell this deal as a great personal success, as the great promise he kept: “Let’s end Brexit.” And that’s perfectly fine, because he did it: he implemented Brexit.
In the end, he got engaged, but how else can you do it? Every contract means compromise, everything else would not be a contract but a dictation, and the majority of the 17 million Britons who voted for Brexit did not demand it at all. There were only a few hardliners who pushed Johnson, and before that, Theresa May as well, and who are obsessed with a dark concept of independence and sovereignty. Nobody questions sovereignty with this agreement, nobody questions the independence of the UK.
Parliament should not be an obstacle
By the way, it would be good and important for future relations if the German government, which is highly respected in London, could now emphasize this a few more times.
It can be assumed that the agreement will go through the British Parliament. The Labor opposition will not vote against, in the worst case it will abstain, and the 30 known hardliners will not be able to stop the treaty.
However, despite all the relief from this Christmas present, there is still a gloomy thought. Today four and a half years ago, in the early morning of June 24, 2016, the British learned: The people have decided, we are out. That was said very quickly back then and, as we now know, it was said very lightly.
