As Britain leaves the EU while Britain is leaving the European Union, it will not.

It should not and in my view won't turn its back on Europe matter in it.

One more member of the mother when Britain voted to leave the you stated ambition was to keep the relationship as close as possible primary staff, but with transition from two prime ministers who focused on damage limitation.

Now it's on Mr Johnson toe one determined to exploit the possibilities of divergence on distance theme mood music has changed market theme in the weeks since the UK left, the single market signs have appeared that both sides may define the relationship increasingly competitive terms.

I'm looking for a close alignment between UK and Europe into the future.

I just worry a bit about the the post Brexit noise from you member states towards Britain, and vice versa.

This'll isn't an ongoing sort of battle between UK and some bigger pieces of your needs.

A cooler.

Everyone needs to cool little bit, but will they cool it?

Or are the politics off rivalry going to prevail?

Lord Daric was the UK representative in Brussels on later ambassador to Washington.

He believes Downing Street is at a crossroads with Europe.

I do think we're at a moment, but it will stretch for a year or two and it will be determined by what deals weaken do with the EU over making Brexit operate better for British business and better the Northern Ireland Onda over where we go in future on foreign policy cooperation or defense cooperation.

Some of the other issues equivalents for the city of London that currently rather contentious.

So over the next two or three years, I think that will have.

It will be a defining period for the future off UK EU relations.

Of course, Downing Street still wants to get on well with you.

But Boris Johnson's language signing the trade and cooperation deal in December was subtly different to Cameron and his closest possible relationship.

The treaty that I've just signed is not the end it is.

It is a new beginning.

Indeed, the government's desire to diverge from Europe and find new global markets and investment means that some have concluded December's trade deal with EU could mark the high point of relations rather than the starting point of something bigger.

There's some tension within the Tory party between pragmatic eurosceptics that would be happy with symbolic divergence on ideological eurosceptics that want substantive divergence.

And we'll probably get some clues from Rishi soon ac on the third of March, when he unveils his budget around how the government's thinking around the divergence agenda.

But the question is one of the virgins.

How far how fast alignment is really off the table.

Any proximity to Europe is really off the table.

So what's the code vaccine crisis?

A temporary hiccup or something more significant?

One Brussels player told me.

Up until then, many people here, so Brexit Britain is a bit of a joke.

Now they take it more seriously as a competitors under fire for being too slow to order and license vaccines.

Theme.

EU Commission president has conceded that the EU has the advantages of being a big ship, but the UK those off a speedboat.

There is no doubt that the way you have handled the whole vaccine issue, it's been a huge mistake.

But let's be clear.

Being small and nimble has worked for us on vaccines, probably doesn't work so well when you come to negotiating, for example, trade deals with much bigger and more powerful partners.

So how do the two sides avoid their post Brexit relationship becoming one of rivalry and recrimination?

On the EU side, they have faith in December's trade deal to stop too much British deregulation.

We do not have an automatic alignment when European Union changes anything, but we do have a clause that if if there is too much divergence that, then of course the European Union can take measures and it protects us from from too much divergence.

And it gives the UK AH certain flexibility to choose their own rules.

The next big discussion concerns financial services with EU wanting the city to align closely on regulation.

While the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, has pushed back, the EU has argued that it must better understand how the UK intends to amend or also the ball's going forwards.

This is a standard that the U holds no other country to what I suspect, what agreed to be held to itself.

So is this just tough negotiating talk?

Or might the UK decide it's a big enough financial services beast not to become a rule taker from Brussels.

I think there's close to zero chance that on equivalence decision will be granted.

The UK doesn't want it in.

The Europeans don't want to grant it.

The UK thinks it would be a nice toe have, but not at the price of subordinating the city to rule taking from Brussels think there is a view that the sector will be much more effectively regulated by the Treasury on the Bank of England and the European Commission.

The European view is a prerequisite for equivalence is trust, cooperation and a stable relationship between the two sides, which is decisively not the case between the U.

K and the European Union At the moment, on financial services, it's the desire of some big players, France and Germany, mainly that the UK shouldn't have the same level of access that it did as an EU member.

That might frustrate agreement, but on the other area where there had been high hopes for cooperation, defense and security, the reluctance is mawr on this side of the channel on defense and security.

What I'm hearing is that it's mostly us who don't seem to be interested.

You would like to do more with us on defense and foreign policy in security, and we are worried about what impact that has on our freedom of movement on our sovereignty.

We really want a very, um, like CART approach to this, too.

Cooperate with you on policy towards Russia on the moments when it chooses us.

Would have complete freedom to diverge when it choose us.

For now, the political climate is not right for cooperation to flourish between Downing Street and the you.

That will mean Mawr oven arm's length relationship than the prime minister who fathered Brexit ever anticipated.

Slightly better attended press conference than some of the ones I've done over the last six years.

But you're all very welcome.

Thank you.