British leader Keir Starmer is travelling to Brussels as Prime Minister for the first time on Wednesday, looking to cement a promised “reset” in relations with the European Union that have deteriorated since Brexit.
Starmer will hold his first official meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after his Labour party swept the Conservatives from power in July’s general election.
It is another sign of the UK’s new goodwill towards its European neighbours after the UK left the bloc under Boris Johnson in 2020 in favour of Brexit. But Starmer is also being pressed to be more precise about exactly what he wants from the EU – and what he is prepared to give in return. Professor Richard Whitman, an EU expert at the University of Kent, told AFP:
“It’s symbolic of this great blowing away of the fog that’s been across the Channel. But I think it’s also probably the prelude to a reality check on the side of the UK that it’s going to be a long old slog if you’re going to get anything worth boasting about in terms of improving the relationship.”
Downing Street said Starmer would use the trip to Brussels to discuss with von der Leyen and other EU leaders “his ambitions for the next few months.” Ahead of the visit, he said he was “determined to put the Brexit years behind us and establish a more pragmatic and mature relationship” with the EU.
Starmer’s red lines for negotiations
Starmer, who voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, insists his reset will not mean cancelling Brexit, which remains a politically toxic topic in the UK. Instead, Labour wants to make improvements to the existing UK-EU trade and co-operation agreement, due to be renewed in 2026.
These include negotiating a new security pact with the bloc’s 27 members, a veterinary agreement to ease border checks on agricultural products and mutual recognition of professional qualifications.
However, Starmer provided few details and also outlined red lines for any negotiations, pledging no return to the European single market or customs union and no return to freedom of movement. Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said:
“Starmer has to present the plan.”
Starmer also poured a barrage of cold water on the EU’s main proposal, a youth mobility scheme for 18-30-year-olds.
Brexit has ended the free movement of EU citizens to live and work in the UK, and vice versa. The EU would like young people from its member states to be able to move freely around the UK. But Starmer rejected the idea over concerns that it was too much like free movement. The Home Office does not accept anything that increases legal migration.
Gap year
EU ambassador to the UK Pedro Serrano last week played down the suggestion that the proposal was a stumbling block, describing it as an “gap year” that would not give EU citizens the right to work in the UK.
Analysts say Labour could be tempted by a limited exchange programme if it helps achieve its main goal of boosting economic growth.
Starmer met von der Leyen on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month. European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said Wednesday’s meeting “will be just the beginning of the conversation.”
An EU diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, insisted the conversation will focus on “broad brushstrokes” and nothing concrete is expected from it. The diplomat also said:
“The general feeling is that yes, there’s a positive mood, yes, we need to keep on implementing the current agreements and yes, there may be areas where there could be the possibility for structured co-operation. But a lot of work would need to go in to defining how anything could work.”
Starmer has already met several EU leaders in recent months, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in an attempt to reshape Britain’s relationship with the bloc more than four years after London formally left the EU.
