Chancellor Rachel Reeves will tell EU finance leaders on Monday that a closer relationship between the UK and the EU will boost economic growth. It will be the British chancellor’s first speech to the Eurogroup since Brexit.
Labour has repeatedly ruled out rejoining the trading bloc, but has said it wants the UK to “deepen ties”with the EU.
Last week, a new report by the Resolution Foundation said Brexit had created a trade gap between the UK’s struggling goods-producing sectors and its powerful services industry. The threat of tariffs on goods by President-elect Trump risks “further widening this trade gap.”
Reducing trade barriers between the UK and the European Union will improve growth prospects for both sides, Finance Minister Rachel Reeves will tell her eurozone counterparts on Monday when she meets the group for the first time.
Britain’s Labour Party government has sought to reset relations with the EU since coming to power in July and improve trade ties in a bid to boost economic growth. Labour argues that previous Conservative governments damaged relations with the EU during tense negotiations to leave the bloc, and Reeves’ appearance at the so-called “Eurogroup” will be the first for a British finance minister since Brexit.
“I believe a closer economic relationship between the UK and the EU is not a zero-sum game. It’s about improving growth prospects for both of us,” Reeves will tell eurozone finance ministers, according to extracts from her speech.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is seeking to cut border checks by agreeing a new veterinary agreement, but has promised no return to the EU single market or customs union and ruled out any return to freedom of movement. Meanwhile, the EU is demanding improvements to the youth mobility scheme and both sides recognise that the negotiations, expected to begin next year, will not be straightforward.
Despite these differences, Reeves said negotiations with the EU could be productive and would not be defined by the “division and chaos” of the past few years.
