Brussels, Belgium. European Affairs Deputy Minister Marilena Raouna said there is an “urgent need” for the European Union to strengthen cooperation with the United Kingdom in defence. Speaking to the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, she said defence and security are a shared priority.
Call for closer defence ties
Raouna told the committee that the EU and the UK signed a security and defence partnership at a high-level summit in May last year. The UK government said at the time that the partnership “reflects our shared geography, history, interests, and values,” and that both sides are significant international actors with strong defence and security capabilities and expertise.
Possible second summit during Cyprus presidency
Raouna said a second summit “could take place” during Cyprus’ six-month term holding the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency. She said Cyprus is ready, within its institutional role, to facilitate the process, adding that full implementation of existing agreements and protocols is a necessary condition.
She also described last May’s summit as an “important milestone” that “provided positive momentum”.
Erasmus+ and concerns over tuition fees
The UK has agreed to reintegrate its universities into the EU’s Erasmus+ student exchange programme. Cypriot MEP Loucas Fourlas said last month that the EU and the UK should do more to help Europeans who choose to study at British universities.
Fourlas said EU citizens studying in the UK are required to pay “endless fees” since the UK’s departure from the EU. He said he will travel to London next month as part of the European Parliament’s education committee with the goal of working toward reducing those fees.
He said that if the UK wishes to re-examine its relationship with the EU, it must give something back as well, and that a tangible good-will step would be reducing tuition fees for European students. Tuition fees for EU citizens at British universities have risen sharply since the UK left the European single market at the end of 2020.
What changes, if any, do you want to see in EU-UK cooperation on defence and student mobility?
