Talk of the UK rejoining the EU is back in the headlines, sparked by a new YouGov poll and a high-profile visit from French President Emmanuel Macron.
The survey, carried out across six western European nations, found that most Britons now support rejoining the EU – but only if the UK can retain the opt-outs it once had, such as keeping the pound and remaining outside the Schengen zone.
Meanwhile, a majority of people in the EU’s four largest countries – France, Germany, Italy and Spain – say they would welcome Britain back, though not on the same generous terms it previously enjoyed.
The findings come just days after Sir Keir Starmer hosted Macron in London during the first state visit by an EU leader since Brexit.
Reacting to the poll, Independent readers had strong views. Many dismissed the idea of returning on old terms as unrealistic or “delusional”. There was broad agreement that the UK had thrown away a uniquely favourable deal – one that won’t be offered again.
Others pointed to the fallout of Brexit: economic decline, lost influence, mounting bureaucracy. Several went further, saying they’d happily join Schengen and adopt the euro if that’s what it takes to repair relations and rejoin the bloc.
Here’s what you had to say:
The concessions Thatcher fought for were chucked away
That poll will come as a surprise to many. A widespread view is that people in EU countries would demand their governments block any UK application to be a member state. Of course, any such application would have to comply with the current rules of the EU – all those concessions Thatcher etc. fought for and won were chucked away in 2020.
avidmidlandsreader
We are not even at square one
What’s arguably worse than the original Brexit vote (which could, partly at least, be attributed to ignorance) is the persistent failure of many to recognise that a massive mistake was made and the continued support for a party run by Farage. This is the preferred option of the majority. Nothing has been learned and we are not, nearly a decade after the referendum, even at square one in terms of rejoining. Rejoining would take at least a decade, probably more. Step number one has to be to get the issue fully back into the arena of political debate, with step two being negotiations to rejoin the single market.
Musil
The sensible majority have become the underground
It is bizarre that the sensible majority would like to rejoin the EU, but neither of the main parties will listen to the sensible majority.
It is like some far-off country where the sensible majority have become the underground.
It’s the same with electoral reform, where the sensible majority want proportional representation.
We have been foisted with political leaders who don’t care about the views of the sensible majority.
RobGood
Brexit proved we always had sovereignty
The EU has the last word, but opt-outs and terms will be subject to negotiation. It always is for every applicant country.
One thing Brexit did prove beyond doubt: we always had sovereignty. We could always leave.
The difference is, we now know how undesirable leaving actually is by any real-world metric – whether power, sovereignty, immigration, control, standards, quality of life, poo in rivers, or bureaucracy: all worse since Brexit, by a country mile in most cases.
AlwaysWondering
A non-starter without fiscal union
I am a Europhile. I even live in the EU.
But any notion of the UK rejoining and having to adopt the euro without there also being a fiscal union is a complete non-starter.
There are far too many pro-EU advocates who do not understand why.
YetAnotherName
A supermajority would be needed
The problem is that although most people in the UK regret leaving, the majority in favour of rejoining is a relatively modest 56 per cent. Unless that goes up substantially, I don’t see any PM risking another referendum on EU membership. In order to definitely reverse the 2016 result and shut up Brexiteers banging on about the will of the people, any future EU referendum is likely to need a supermajority.
Tanaquil2
No opt-outs this time
The EU wouldn’t allow the UK to have the opt-outs if it rejoined. They were part of the problem in the relationship, for both sides – e.g. the UK wanted to be at the centre of the EU, but couldn’t be because it wasn’t in the euro. So that was a major cause of resentment and friction. The organisation has also become more centralised since the UK left. So the UK’s choice would be between either rejoining without the opt-outs (the article says only 36% of UK voters would support this) or staying out.
OneView
Unbridgeable chasm between EU and UK expectations
There’s a probably unbridgeable chasm between the terms upon which a majority of the EU population would welcome the re-entry of the UK and those which the UK population would accept.
I live in France. My sense is that the UK would be highly unlikely to be able to negotiate a return under anything even approaching the previous terms.
Which, if I might say so, serves to underline the self-harm of having walked away from what must be a serious contender for the best deal in history.
PinkoRadical
Rejoining still best for the country
Why would we have the right to apply on the same terms as we left? Thatcher got a good deal out of the EU, but it was decided to give it up. Cherry-picking won’t work, but rejoining is still best for this country, as we will always get better deals as a bloc than as a single country – as shown by every deal we have made since Brexit, all better for the other countries.
Boy from ceiber
The EU does not need us
The EU does not need us and is managing well without us. There is no reason whatsoever why we could make demands. We lost the excellent terms we had and will not regain them. Once again, thank you, Brexiters.
There are 20 countries in the Eurozone. They are doing better economically than the others. Anyone with a modicum of common sense would see that a common currency facilitates trade by removing conversions and encourages tourism.
I would be quite happy to shed the old pound, an exhausted currency, to join the euro. I fear this would not please the Little Englanders who voted Leave. Since we do not have politicians with spines, I fear rejoining may take a long, long time.
HASTINGSPIER
It’s a matter of UK security
I don’t have an issue with using euros or having Schengen area rights and obligations.
Joining the EU is now a matter of UK security. If EU membership provides economic, social, and military security (now that the US has gone rogue), then it’s a price worth taking. No country is ever truly independent.
The question remains: why does Starmer still have his head in the sand over EU membership? Labour should be laying the ground to rejoin the EU and for it to be part of the Labour manifesto for the next general election.
Bolbi
The EU is the only way
All for it. Schengen, the euro, the single, common market – the whole thing.
If the UK is serious and wants to catalyse, reinvigorate, and drive up economic growth, the EU is the only way.
Nothing else has the capability of matching or improving on it.
EU free trade without borders created UK growth above all else over the last 50 years, with hundreds of thousands of small and medium businesses having the best ever opportunities to export without restrictions, along with UK corporates receiving far more preferential terms.
UK regions would once again have access to the European Regional Development Fund instead of relying on foreseen unreliable, sparse, pitiful UK government funding – something UK regions have suffered harshly from since Brexit.
Farming and fisheries will once again see a return to free and easy EU access, improving their opportunities, and have access to EU funding again, which is much better than the unreliable, sparse, pitiful UK government funding.
Further, the City of London financial sector will be able to abate the exodus of firms and professionals, which can only be good.
The UK needs to get a grip, see common sense, and reverse the horrendous loss of 15 per cent GDP since leaving the EU.
WhatServices
The greatest revenge would be Britain back in the EU
It’s not merely a matter of the pound and Schengen. We also had an opt-out from ever closer union, meaning in the end the EU could theoretically have consisted of the other 27 countries as one, and us – but we would have had almost the same voting rights as all the rest. Additionally, we cannot hope for such an advantageous financial package.
Not unreasonably, the people of Europe do not think, on the whole, that having rejected them we should have the full benefit of what we rejected. If the roles were reversed, be honest – who here would think differently?
However, I would say to them that if you want revenge upon the Brexiters like Farage and BoJo and their helpers… if you want to see Gove and Cummings humiliated and see Trump as well as Putin receive a poke in the eye, then offer us precisely the terms we had on leaving – the only caveat being perhaps that we wouldn’t be able to veto others from joining for the following 10 years.
Because the greatest revenge upon them would be to see Britain back in the EU. The only greater revenge would be that, plus they all end up in jail for treason – which they entirely deserve.
AFTGTSIV
Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.
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