- For more than half a century, the UK has worked with nations from Europe and across the Atlantic to forge our common security based on the fundamental values we all share.
- In the face of the ever evolving threats we face – from hostile state activity and terrorist networks, to organised crime – as the UK leaves the EU we are unconditionally committed to European security and want to work closely with our European partners to keep all of our citizens safe.
- The UK brings formidable power to this collective effort: we are the second largest defence spender in NATO, we have a highly developed set of security relationships such as Five Eyes, we have invested in critical capabilities such as our nuclear deterrent and two new aircraft carriers, and we are a leading contributor to international missions from Eastern Europe to South Sudan.
- This important speech sets out the new deep and special partnership we want to develop with the EU to retain the co-operation we have and go further to meet new threats. We must do whatever is most practical and pragmatic to provide security for our citizens, and not allow competition between partners, rigid institutional restrictions or deep-seated ideology to inhibit our co-operation and jeopardise the security of our citizens.
Internal security
- The UK has been at the forefront of shaping the arrangements that underpin our internal security co-operation. Expedited extradition, mutual legal assistance, and co-operation between law enforcement agencies have helped dismantle organised crime groups and combat terrorism. And we have become one of the largest contributors of information to European databases and Europol.
- People across Europe are safer as a result, and we must find ways to protect these capabilities when we leave the EU. There are three key areas of co-operation:
- Firstly, practical co-operation which facilitates faster and more efficient means to convict serious criminals. For example measures such as the European Investigation Order, the European Arrest Warrant, and the ability to form Joint Investigation Teams.
- Secondly, co-operation between law enforcement agencies, which provides an effective way to share expertise, information and intelligence for instance, through Europol.
- And thirdly, the exchange of data through databases such as Schengen Information System II and Passenger Name Records.
- The costs of failure could be high, for example, outside of the EAW, extradition could take three times as long and cost four times as much. It would damage us both and put our citizens at risk.
- The Prime Minister has proposed a new UK/EU treaty on internal security based on the three key areas of co-operation outlined above. It will require real political will on both sides to make this happen, but it is in all our interests to get this right.
- Although the EU has no single existing security agreement that captures the breadth of the relationship we want to have, there are precedents in specific fields and no legal or operational reasons why we could not reach such an agreement.
- To be fully effective the treaty needs to meet four further requirements: respectful of both the UK and EU’s sovereign legal orders, an appropriate mechanism for dispute resolution, comprehensive data protection arrangements, and adaptability in the face of future threats.
External Security
- Clearly our security interests don’t stop at the edge of our continent. And as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a leading contributor to NATO and the US’ closest partner we have never defined our approach to external security primarily through our membership of the EU.
- So upon leaving the EU, it is right that the UK will pursue an independent foreign policy. But the interests we will seek to project will continue to be based on shared values, whether it be addressing the root causes of extremism or uncontrolled mass migration, or confronting state based threats.
- Our success depends on a breadth of partnership that extends far beyond the institutional mechanisms for cooperation with the EU. We must develop more bi-lateral co-operation between European nations, build the ad hoc groupings that allow us to counter terrorism and hostile state threats, and we must ensure a reformed NATO remains the cornerstone of our shared security.
- So we need a partnership that respects the decision-making autonomy of the EU and the sovereignty of the UK. But it should also offer both sides the means to combine efforts to the greatest effect.
- Since the EU’s foreign policy is distinct within the EU Treaties and our foreign policies will keep evolving, we should be able to agree that key aspects of our future partnership on external security will already be effective from 2019. We shouldn’t wait where we don’t need to.
- In turn, if the EU and remaining Member States believe that the best means to increase their contribution to collective security is through greater integration, we will look to work with them, and help them to do so in a way that strengthens NATO and our wider alliances too.
- There are three key areas of focus for our partnership on external security:
- First, at a diplomatic level, we should have the means to consult regularly on the global challenges we face, and co-ordinate how we use the levers we hold where our interests align. In particular, we want to continue to work closely on sanctions; we will look to carry over all EU sanctions as we leave, and to have the means to potentially develop them together in future.
- Second, co-operation on the ground, alongside each other and, if it makes us both more effective, by being open to work through EU mechanisms. That could mean continuing to contribute to an EU operation or mission as we do now, or contributing to EU development programmes, as long as we can play an appropriate role in shaping collective action.
- And third, continuing to develop capabilities to meet future threats. On defence that means agreeing a relationship between the UK and European Defence Fund and Defence Agency. On cyber, it means a truly global response – the UK, EU, NATO and industry all working together to strengthen our capabilities. And in space, where the UK plays a leading role, we want to keep open all the options to collaborate most effectively, such as developing the Galileo programme
- Those who threaten our security would like nothing more than to see us fractured, and put debates about mechanisms ahead of keeping our people safe. To defeat them we need a dynamic relationship, not a set of transactions, built on an unshakeable commitment to shared values.
- We need a responsive partnership, able to adapt rapidly to new threats. We must all play our full part. The UK stands ready to do exactly that, now, and in the years to come.