British Prime Minister Starmer cannot avoid Brussels as he seeks to improve post-Brexit relations between Britain and the EU, EU officials warned after his visit to Berlin and Paris.
Starmer has been actively engaged in diplomatic activities with EU leaders since joining the Prime Minister’s Office last month, meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron in recent days.
During the two-day tour, he touted his proposed “reset” for the UK and EU, highlighting his desire to “forge closer ties in a range of areas, including the economy, defence and trade.”
But he also called for Britain to be banned from re-entering the EU’s single market or customs union, or Restoration of free movement.
EU diplomats said there was little scope for improving relations with Britain within these constraints.
One diplomat said there was “some room” for EU member states to facilitate entry for British workers and students and industry cooperation.
“But a reset can only be achieved by going to Brussels. The red lines remain unchanged. If we want to repair relations, the British side will have to make some concessions,” they added.
The UK aims to negotiate a new bilateral treaty with Germany in early 2025. © Clémence Biran/EPA/Shutterstock
This week in the UK new bilateral treaty Negotiations with Germany are underway and both sides hope to conclude them by early 2025, but there are doubts within the EU.
German officials rejected suggestions from the Prime Minister’s Office that the two countries would discuss “market access” as part of the treaty, stressing that the single market and trade are the domain of the EU, not individual countries.
One said the treaty would not change anything set out in the post-Brexit deal between the EU and the UK.
“The visit to Germany will not change the situation,” said one EU official, adding: “There has been a lot of attention paid to the UK’s bilateral relations with Germany and France, but the EU is made up of 27 countries and if the relationship is to be restored, the only negotiators are Berlin, Paris, Rome or Tallinn. Not Brussels.”
The official said it was “very good news” that the UK was looking to “reset” its relationship with the EU, but that any British proposal that could put the single market at risk “should not go ahead”. It is difficult
The main thing the EU wants from the UK is a youth mobility plan © Viktor Simanovic/Alamy
Starmer is expected to hold talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen before the end of the year.
The EU’s main ambition for the UK is its youth mobility scheme, proposed in April. The EU also wants the UK to rejoin the Erasmus student exchange programme, which will make it cheaper for British citizens to study in the UK.
The EU proposals this spring met with a lukewarm reaction from leaders of the Labour Party, who were in opposition at the time. They said they viewed youth mobility as synonymous with free movement. But some Labour leaders, including London Mayor Sadiq Khan, are pushing for a deal.
Starmer said this week there were “no plans” to negotiate a formal youth mobility plan, but did not explicitly rule out starting talks in the future.
Britain’s previous Conservative government proposed bilateral migration deals to several countries, including Germany, prompting the European Commission to come up with an EU-wide proposal. Officials have not ruled out the possibility that some member states could act on their own if EU-wide progress proves impossible.
One of the priorities of Starmer’s government is a new security agreement between the UK and the EU to “strengthen cooperation against the threats we face”.
The EU considers that the current informal cooperation between the EU and the UK on defence and security matters is working well, and that coordination on sanctions, Ukraine and China is taking place through the G7, NATO and other fora.
However, EU officials said the bloc was open to formalising a more structured dialogue, as it has done with the United States.
After years of tension under Conservative rule, Starmer’s new government believes it makes sense to refresh the tone of the UK-EU relationship and says it will not be able to move on from the “failure” of the EU Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
After speaking with Macron on Thursday, Starmer said the two discussed a “broader reset” with the EU, the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East, bilateral trade, illegal immigration and security issues.
The British Prime Minister described “economic growth” as the “first mission” of reviving the UK and the EU.
Anand Menon, director of the Britain in a Changing Europe think tank, said Starmer’s more benign rhetoric on UK-EU relations was “desirable” and would help politicians and officials on both sides work more smoothly through the wheels of diplomacy.”
But he added that the UK and EU were playing a “defensive” game and it was too early to say whether this would result in “substantial” changes to the relationship.
Before the UK election, Labour had specifically called for a veterinary agreement with the EU, an agreement on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and making it easier for British artists to tour within the EU, but the proposals were criticised as disappointing.
Menon said Labour’s demands were “very unambitious” and “insignificant” in economic size, but “nevertheless, they may be quite difficult to meet”.
