Thread by @Usherwood

It's #EuropeDay, so let's read the letter from the EU27 ambassadors in today's Guardian, shall we?

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

1/

While not unprecedented, it's unusual for such a letter to be written: treat it as a demonstration of collective intent and openness

2/

For those in the UK unfamiliar with #EuropeDay, it's the main occasion when the EU recalls its roots in the 1950 Schuman Declaration as a peace project, hence the opening of the letter

european-union.europa.eu/principles-cou…

3/

The content isn't really anything new

It speaks to the UK's shared values and interests, underlined by the war in Ukraine (although note the arched reference to 'defending international legality'; a sore point during the whole Johnson administration)

4/

The key bit is this:

"Rediscovery of common interests and concerns have led to the Windsor framework and to a much welcome and necessary regain in trust in EU-UK relations. The task ahead is therefore to build on this reengagement."

5/

Windsor is thus both an end in itself, but also a means to further ends

Those aren't spelled out at all, which reflects the organic and dynamic nature of relations: a bit like Schuman, we don't have to solve everything all at once

6/

This is a very soft sell: there's no offer beyond shared interest, no threat beyond the external threat of those that would challenge the international order

7/

So I'd see it not as the dawn of a new age, but as the EU taking time when it thinks about itself to also think about its neighbours and partners and why working together is better than fighting (in any sense of the word)

8/

That doesn't mean its easy, or that anyone has the monopoly of how to do it 'right', just that there's a value in partnership

9/

To quote Scuhman:

"World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it"

/end

@UACES @UKandEU @OUPolitics