François-Joseph Schichan is a former French diplomat and political adviser to the French Ambassador in the U.K. (2017–2021). He is a director at the consultancy firm Flint Global.

This week’s EU-U.K. summit — the first of its kind since Brexit — needs to send a strong signal of European unity.

The U.K. and the EU face the same challenges both from the East and the West: A new world order that puts our continent’s security and values at risk. Yet, for many in the EU, the Brexit chapter in this relationship is far from over. The wounds of Brexit run deep for some member countries, as well as some quarters of the European Commission. And some still perceive it as an existential threat to the European project.

Almost 10 years after the Brexit referendum of 2016, the language from some European officials has barely changed. The message is still: The U.K. must pay.

Yes, of course, we must be vigilant and protect EU interests. The U.K. cannot expect to be treated the same as before, or to cherry-pick its relationship with the bloc. Moreover, there remains a number of outstanding post-Brexit issues that need to be resolved — on fisheries, trade, energy, migration.

Fisheries, in particular, is no small issue. Those who dismiss it as inconsequential compared to other concerns, such as European defense, make a political mistake. British and European fishermen need and deserve certainty about their activities. And we need to keep in mind that coastal communities can be lured by populist temptation.

The U.K. government and the EU need to work together to resolve all these issues. Commitments must be fulfilled, and the Brexit agreements must be implemented in full — including on the very sensitive issue of Northern Ireland.

But the EU also needs to embrace this possible new era in its relationship with the U.K. with enthusiasm. It should abandon the confrontational approach it and some member countries have maintained despite the “reset” announced by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The U.K. is an indispensable partner for our continent’s defense and security. Our defense supply chains are intertwined. There are not many capable militaries in Europe to begin with — and the U.K. is one of them. It’s a strong ally within NATO, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and a nuclear-armed state. There’s no credible European defense without the U.K.

In short, Britain isn’t a problem for the EU — it’s an asset.

Building a strong, ambitious, long-term partnership will make both parties more prosperous and more secure. It will also send a strong signal to allies and foes alike regarding our determination to remain united as a continent.

As the U.S. decisively turns away from Europe, our continent needs to pull together to ensure its own security in the face of Russia’s threat. Meanwhile, China continues to represent a challenge for both the U.K. and the EU, and both could benefit from a joint effort on de-risking, reducing dependencies and increasing the resilience of our economies.

The challenges we face don’t just come from outside Europe either — they also come from inside our borders.

We need political unity to fend off the populist temptation that’s spreading in Britain and across the bloc. The political center still holds, but it’s fragile and needs strengthening. France, Germany, Poland and the U.K. are all currently led by leaders either from the center right or the center left — but they face precarious domestic situations.

In this climate, holding grudges over Brexit simply won’t do. While the U.K. needs to play its part and fulfil its commitments, a change of mindset is necessary on the EU side. 

If the EU fails to seize this moment, there’s a risk the U.K. could go its own way and look elsewhere — as it’s already tempted to do, looking to the U.S. for a new trade deal and toward the “anglosphere” rather than Europe. A half-baked reconciliation would also further British frustrations, only to strengthen political leaders like Nigel Farage who, as we all know, is no friend of the EU.

The EU-U.K. reconciliation should start with an ambitious security pact that would, in time, allow the U.K. to contribute to EU defense programs in accordance with the EU legal framework. Partnering on security would also provide a helpful framework for coordination on Ukraine at a critical time. Cooperation could go even further to include the U.K. in the ongoing discussions led by France on a European nuclear umbrella.

As it stands, Europe needs two major resets: The EU-U.K. reset and the Franco-German reset. The two go hand-in-hand. Furthermore, in parallel to the reconciliation between Britain and the bloc, bilateral ties between the U.K. and member countries need to be strengthened as well. For instance, it’s encouraging to see Germany and the U.K. recently sign a defense agreement, and that France and the U.K. are updating the existing Lancaster House treaties, with a Franco-British summit to be held in July.

Today’s summit provides a unique opportunity to seal the reconciliation between the U.K. and the EU, without making compromises on the bloc’s economic and political interests.

It’s about time we closed the book on Brexit.