The European Union holds high hopes for a Biden presidency and hopes he will quickly get to work rectifying the mistakes of President Trump. This includes specific assurances on NATO and the United Nations, as well as readmission into the Paris Climate Agreement and the Iran Nuclear Accord. And in turn, President Biden also appears to be keen on repairing the US’s broken reputation on the world stage. European Commission president Ursula von der Lyon has already voiced ideas of a “renewed partnership” between the two sides when congratulating President Biden on his victory.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Professor of International Relations at London Metropolitan University, Dr Andrew Moran said Britain will be sent to the “back of the queue” as increased pressure is put “on the Prime Minister to do a deal with the European Union”.
Dr Moran said: “The situation has now changed and Britain may well find itself at the ‘back of the queue’ as President Obama famously said, as Biden’s priority will most likely be to focus on rebuilding America’s relationship with the 27 states of the European Union – a relationship that has been badly damaged by Trump.
“A stark reality for Johnson is that the Biden Administration will have other priorities in its first 100 days, not least tackling an increasingly out of control pandemic, rebuilding the economy, and dealing with any problems Trump may choose to create on his way out the door.”
Whereas President Trump was an enthusiastic supporter of Brexit, President-elect Biden is a known supporter of the European Union and is opposed to Brexit.
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In addition, Mr Biden has voiced concerns about the controversial Internal Markets Bill, which was found to break some aspects of international law.
Dr Moran explained: “Biden is concerned about the risks posed by the Internal Markets Bill to the Good Friday Agreement, which has alarmed many in America who believe that Johnson is favouring Brexit over the interests of peace in Ireland.”
President Biden previously tweeted: “Any trade deal between the US and UK must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period.”
This will undoubtedly cause issues for the Prime Minister and his Party at home, after they used a lucrative trade deal with the US as one of the main selling points for Brexit.
The President-elect once called Mr Johnson a “physical and emotional clone of Trump”, which suggests the relationship is more than frosty at the moment.
The Prime Minister doesn’t have the best reputation among the Democrats, either, which will undoubtedly put a spanner in the works when trying to agree a deal.
Dr Moran added: “Many Democrats remember the Prime Minister commenting on Barack Obama’s ‘half-Kenyan’ heritage.
“Not least Obama’s former White House spokesman who described Johnson as a ‘shapeshifting creep’ in a recent tweet, warning: ‘We will never forget your racist comments about Obama and slavish devotion to Trump’.”
Even though Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has tried hard to downplay the significance of these comments, Dr Moran said the Government “is clearly aware of the difficult position it now finds itself in”.
There remain positive signs to the situation, however.
Dr Moran concluded: “Biden should be a closer and more reliable ally than Trump on key areas of concern to UK foreign policy, including NATO, the Middle East, and climate change.
“It was never going to be easy doing a trade deal with Donald Trump. But with Biden, it has, perhaps, got a little harder.
“But that doesn’t mean that it will not happen. As Johnson himself has said, there is more that unites the US and UK Governments than divides them.”
