Janneke Wachowiak

And then, of course, Labour coming in promising a reset policy.

had yet another positive impact in the sense that the relationship is much friendlier now, much warmer than it used to be.

But I think it's also fair to say that there is still some lingering distrust.

And while people in Brussels might have forgiven the divisiveness of the Brexit years, I don't think they've forgotten about it.

I think from an EU perspective, it maybe wasn't so much about punishing the UK, but it was about kind of protecting what they had.

Because, of course, if at the time they hadn't taken such a hard line, then this domino effect that we mentioned earlier probably would have happened.

So I think for them, it was quite an existential moment in the history of European integration, because it was the first time that a member state was

actually decided to leave and they didn't know what that meant and what it meant for the future of the EU.

So I think we sometimes underestimate how kind of important and existential this moment was for the European Union.

I mean, I think the way that you phrase the question, what does the EU need from the UK, is probably not necessarily how people in Brussels would see it.

Because their view is, well, you know, you left and now you have to tell us what you want.

And they very much see the ball as being in the UK's court.

So it's kind of the expectation is for Brussels.

London to figure out what they want from this relationship and to then approach Brussels and tell them and then they will consider those proposals.

And I think one reason for that is that the UK and Brexit just is no longer a priority for the EU and for its member states.

They have lots of other pressing issues from Ukraine to the war in Iran to the relationship with President Trump to the next long-term EU budget that they're currently negotiating.

So I think the relationship with the UK is not really on leaders' minds.

That said, they are interested in a closer relationship with the UK in those strategic areas, like security and defence, like energy security, how to build a more resilient Europe, also people-to-people relations and opportunities for young people.

But at the same time, it's not really what is kind of keeping leaders awake at night.

And I think if the UK wants to go further, it is kind of the emphasis on the UK to come up with kind of ideas and proposals.