They couldn’t resist the briefest of smiles.
Leaders of Britain’s 27 former European partners were arriving in Brussels on Thursday for what is essentially an EU team meeting when Liz Truss was bombarded as prime minister.
The potential for schadenfreude was everywhere. Truss would have been at that meeting a few years earlier, likely frustrating his colleagues with a British brand of conservative euroscepticism.
Now she wasn’t their problem (most of the time) – Brexit had taken care of that. They could just watch it all unfold from a safe distance (relatively speaking), set up on the other side of the English Channel.
“I hope I can remember how many British prime ministers I have survived,” joked Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, who has been in power for a decade.
“I’m looking forward to finding out who my new colleague will be – I think it will be number five,” said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who lasted for more than a decade.
Inevitably, there was the occasional smile that crept across leaders’ faces, even as they tried to stick to the diplomatic bromides typically reserved for such times.
“I’m not going to comment on that – I’ll leave that to you,” Rutte offered with a knowing look when reporters tried to engage him on what Truss’s resignation said about the political situation in the UK.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was equally vivacious.
“Today is the European Council and this is the subject I am commenting on,” she said with a tactful smile before leaving the group of journalists.
Remarkably, some EU leaders may have first learned of Truss’ departure from the wall of journalists who greeted them at the entrance to the European Council building. The reporters had just gathered, laden with microphones and cameras, when the phones started going on: Truss had finally bowed to the inevitable.
Some leaders were lucky, entering the door before the explosive news. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz happily discussed the latest energy talks, avoiding any questions about Truss’ abbreviated 44-day stay.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also slipped in the door ahead of the dramatic announcement, but he didn’t hesitate to pronounce Britain’s post-Brexit economic policies dead.
“I think it’s the end of an approach,” he said, “which I thought was an old-fashioned approach to how to respond to this economic crisis, which is to cut all taxes and shrinking the welfare state”.
And as Spain headed to the polls in late 2023, Sánchez turned the question into a campaign message for the domestic audience.
“We need to strengthen our welfare state and make people’s fiscal response to this crisis fair,” he said.
EU leaders, of course, can’t just watch Truss spiral from the sidelines.
Despite the Brexit divorce, the UK is still tied to the European continent. The economies are closely linked. They are partners in helping Ukraine fight off Russian invaders. They are promoters of democratic values. The British live all over Europe. The United Kingdom is full of European citizens.
So there was understandable – and genuine – concern in the voices of many EU leaders.
French President Emmanuel Macron — who it’s only recently that things have been ironed out with Truss after a cross-Channel row – said it was important Britain regained ‘political stability’ as soon as possible, citing the tumultuous geopolitical climate and the war in Ukraine.
“That’s all I wish for,” he said, with a tone reflecting the appreciation in Europe that what happens in Britain matters.
Irish leader Micheál Martin briefly put himself in Truss’ shoes.
“On a personal level, I sympathize with her, I think it has been a very difficult time for the British Prime Minister,” said Martin. He preached the importance of stability in the UK and expressed a desire to have a successor “selected as soon as possible”.
Luckily for EU leaders, news that former UK leader Boris Johnson – the EU’s flagship Brexiteer – could stage a comeback had not surfaced when they entered the room. Maybe it will serve as good fodder for after-dinner gossip if their tense discussions about falling energy prices get too heated.
While the change of leadership is the latest chapter in Britain’s seemingly endless political soap opera, one constant remains: the Northern Ireland Protocol, a post-Brexit trade deal governing trade between Britain and the EU. ‘North Ireland.
The reality is that Brussels, and in particular EU Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, will now have to prepare to deal with another UK prime minister on the issue – the third this year.
Barbara Moens contributed reporting.