RESTORING TRUST IN THE TRANSATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP From trade in goods, services and investment, to police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and all the way to cooperation in intelligence, defence and security matters, it is of paramount importance that the EU remain committed to an ambitious future partnership with the UK, as the Chief Negotiator for the EU, Michel Barnier, put it ¹⁰. While the EU is correct to keep insisting on the principle of non-regression from social, environmental, labour and climate standards, it should also remain aware of the fact that any efforts to build a meaningful strategic sovereignty for Europe would quickly run out of steam without the backing and loyal cooperation of the British – in security and defence matters above all, but not only. It may well be the case that the dictum»Brexit means Brexit« has been voiced so many times that there is a risk of forgetting that continental Europe for its part needs to respond in kind with the same loyal cooperative attitude. Eastern Europe seems to be more adept at coming up with more feasible avenues for future cooperation with the United Kingdom, especially in its quest to balance and counter worrying developments in its Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoods, a concern better understood on the Thames than in Brussels or in other Western European capitals. The EU needs to become more keenly aware of this reality and embrace it as a working framework – or better yet an issue where Eastern Europeans can be trusted to enhance the EU's autonomy and sovereignty. This in turn could reduce internal frictions inside the Union, with the added benefit of giving the Eastern Europeans a sense of true ownership and participation in sensible decision-making processes which at present they only seem to find in NATO. There is a need to realise that the»free and democratic world« includes parts of the world not only bordering on the Atlantic Ocean, and as such, any expansion of trade and exchange (scientific, technologic, human) as well as cooperation and dialogue in the areas of security, disarmament, nuclear non­proliferation and conflict management should include all of Europe's partners at present, or new partners in the world of tomorrow. Along these lines, it should be noted that neither the EU nor the US have helped their cause by the plethora of agreements they have proposed to the world, rather than trying to build a framework that would apply to all those that wish to join. Now the transatlantic partners have the chance to build just such a framework – and then expand it to include partners in the Indo-Pacific, with or without China. 7