Britain will rejoin the European Union within 15 years, a former European Commission chief has predicted.
Speaking about the UK’s decision to leave the EU at the UCL Centre for Finance, Romano Prodi – who served as president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 – said: “I’m betting that in 15 years the UK will come back.”
His optimism for Britain to rejoin the bloc is not matched by Jean-Claude Juncker, another former European Commission chief, who in July suggested it would take “a century or two”.
Speaking to Politico, he said: “When you leave a boat, you can’t get back on the same boat.”
Sir Keir Starmer has previously insisted the UK will not rejoin the EU within his lifetime.
“I’ve been really clear about not rejoining the EU, the single market or the customs union – or [allowing a] return to freedom of movement,” he said.
But despite his insistence that the UK will not rejoin the bloc, the prime minister is attempting to pursue a “reset” with the EU, pledging to “make Brexit work” by renegotiating the deal agreed upon by Boris Johnson and the Tories.
On Thursday, The Independent revealed that a new group of MPs from across the political spectrum has formed to urge the prime minister to re-examine the UK-EU relationship.
The first meeting of the new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Europe, chaired by Dr Rosena Allin-Khan and Tory peer Timothy Kirkhope, took place on Tuesday.
The group, which aims to “discover areas of mutual cooperation and interest” and probe the UK’s relationship with the EU, held its first meeting on Tuesday.
This week, Sir Keir scored the first major breakthrough in his great Brexit reset with a landmark new defence deal with Germany.
The prime minister struck an agreement with the most influential and powerful member state in the European Union.
Under the plans, German aircraft in the Luftwaffe, Germany’s air force, will operate from a base in Britain to help protect the North Atlantic from the growing threat posed by Russia, while around 400 jobs are set to be created in a new munitions factory in the UK.
Defence secretary John Healey said the agreement represented a “major strengthening of Europe’s security” and was a “milestone moment” in the UK’s relationship with Germany.
But the prime minister was urged to go further in strengthening the UK’s relationship with the EU and seize upon other areas of cooperation.
Sir Nick Harvey, a former armed forces minister and the chief executive of the pro-EU campaign group, European Movement, described the deal as “excellent news for Britain, our defence and our industries. Germany is a crucial partner.”
But he added: “Keir Starmer and his new government should now follow through and take their reset in UK-EU relations into all the other major challenges we face together.”