Britain resists giving EU diplomats full status

United Kingdom

Reuters staff

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is resisting an EU demand to grant full diplomatic status to the bloc’s ambassador to London, sparking a row between the recently divorced parties that came to light on Thursday.

Britain, an EU member for 46 years, voted to resign in 2016 and completed its torturous journey out of the bloc on December 31, when Brexit came into full force.

The BBC reported that the Foreign Ministry refused to grant the same diplomatic status and privileges to EU Ambassador Joao Vale de Almeida and his team as to country envoys, on the grounds that the EU is not a nation state.

The Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The European Commission, the executive body of the 27-member bloc, said the 143 EU delegations around the world had all been granted status equivalent to states’ diplomatic missions, and Britain was well aware of this .

“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, spokesperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Stano added that when Britain was still a member of the EU, it supported the diplomatic status of EU delegations.

“Nothing has changed since the United Kingdom left the European Union to justify any change in position on the part of the United Kingdom,” he said.

The BBC report quoted the Foreign Office in London as saying: “Engagement continues with the EU on long-term arrangements for the EU delegation to the UK.”

The report said Britain was reluctant to grant full status to EU diplomats in London because it did not want to set a precedent in the eyes of other international organizations.

The EU maintains that this is not a typical international organization.

“Its member states have given it substantial competences, it has the power to adopt binding legislation for its member states, has its own decision-making institutions and its own system of judicial control, and has established a common currency,” Stano said. .