A good Rejoin deal is possible

Britain would not be forced to join the Euro or the Schengen zone – just read the treaties

Today on Arguably, Ben takes on one of the main arguments against the UK rejoining the EU – that we would get a bad deal. This piece is paid but you can read it now by becoming a full subscriber for just £6 a month or signing up for a seven-day free trial.

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The Brexit omertà has ended. With leading Labour politicians now talking about rejoining the EU, and polls showing a majority of voters in favour, the Overton Window has dramatically shifted in British politics. However, poorly-informed commentary has promoted the idea that the UK would be forced to join the passport-free Schengen zone and the Euro – which would make a new referendum much harder to win. According to YouGov, when those conditions are presented, support for Rejoin declines from 54 per cent to 36 per cent. The matter is decisive. So progressives need to know the facts: would the UK be obliged to join the Euro and Schengen?

The answer is, in theory, yes; in practice, absolutely not. First, Britain and Ireland, which is not in Schengen, would have a veto over any implementation of the Schengen Agreement. The Good Friday Agreement, of course, requires an open border on the island of Ireland. Second, when it comes to the Euro, any new member state automatically joins with a derogation – an exemption – until it has fulfilled the Maastricht criteria, parts of which are at its own discretion. All this could easily be clarified by an EU that wants Britain back. How exactly?