UK
Reuters team
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is resisting an EU requirement to grant full bloc diplomatic status to London’s ambassador, causing an argument between the newly divorced parties that spread on Thursday.
Britain, a member of the EU for 46 years, voted to resign in 2016 and completed its tortuous journey outside the bloc on December 31, when Brexit came into force.
The BBC reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to grant EU ambassador João Vale de Almeida and his team the same diplomatic status and privileges that it attributes to country envoys, on the grounds that the EU is not a Member State. nation.
The Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The European Commission, the executive body of the 27-member bloc, said that 143 EU delegations worldwide had received status equivalent to that of state diplomatic missions, and Britain was well aware of the fact.
“Granting reciprocal treatment based on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations is standard practice between equal partners and we are confident that we can resolve this issue with our friends in London in a satisfactory manner,” said Peter Stano, spokesman for the commission for foreign relations.
Stano added that when the UK was still a member of the EU, it supported the diplomatic status of EU delegations.
“Nothing has changed since the UK left the European Union to justify any change in stance on the part of the UK,” he said.
The BBC report quoted the Foreign Office in London as saying: “The engagement continues with the EU on long-term agreements for the EU delegation in the UK.”
The report states that Britain is reluctant to grant full status to EU diplomats in London because it does not want to set a precedent in the eyes of other international organizations.
The EU argues that it is not a typical international organization.
“It has received substantial powers from its member states, has the power to adopt binding legislation for its member states, has its own decision-making institutions and its own judicial control system and has established a common currency,” said Stano.