Promising a “once-in-a-generation reconciliation” with Germany, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday laid out his plan to boost post-Brexit ties across Europe.
But while her visit to Berlin generated warm rhetoric and underlined a change of tone from the previous Conservative government’s approach, few details were given on how repairing relations with European member states would lead to real policy change.
Following talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mr Starmer said he hoped a new Anglo-German treaty, covering defence, technology, business and culture, would be agreed by the end of the year as part of a broader reset of relations with the European Union.
Even as the prime minister smiled and said he was “delighted” to be standing alongside Mr Scholz, he did not commit to specific policy changes and reiterated his election pledge that Britain would not rejoin the bloc’s economic structures. He said Britain had “no plans” to agree a mobility scheme — of the kind favoured by Germany — that would help young Britons and their European counterparts cross the Channel to work, although he did not rule out that possibility when asked later by reporters.
Britain’s 2016 referendum, in which the country narrowly voted to leave the European Union, plunged it into a sustained political crisis and heightened tensions with its member states. In the years that followed, Brexit negotiations under the combative Prime Minister Boris Johnson scorched ties with many European capitals. His short-lived successor, Liz Truss, once flatly refused to say whether French President Emmanuel Macron was friend or foe.
So the first phase of Mr. Starmer’s reengagement with European leaders is simply to be nice to them, said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a research institute. “It’s all about mood music, rebuilding trust, restoring confidence, being nice to people, being polite and showing that we have changed — which sounds obvious but is very important,” he said.
While the charm offensive was going “very well”, Mr Grant said, agreeing specific changes would be much harder for Mr Starmer.
Mr Scholz, a centre-left politician, warmly welcomed Mr Starmer, describing Germany and Britain as “good friends, close partners and trusted allies”. He said the planned treaty was “based on a new spirit of cooperation” and that Germany wanted to “take the hand that has been extended to us”.
But she also expressed her desire for more freedom of movement for young people, noting that “contacts between our societies, between Germans and people in the UK, have decreased dramatically after Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic – we want to change that.”
Mr Starmer, who said he wanted to “turn the corner on Brexit”, then flew to Paris, where he planned to attend the opening ceremony of the Paralympics and meet Mr Macron, with whom he also has a strong relationship.
Before becoming prime minister, Mr Starmer once campaigned on reversing Brexit but later abandoned that stance and ruled out a meaningful reconsideration.
Still, he hopes to improve the terms of a stripped-down trade and cooperation deal struck with the European Union by Mr Johnson.
While Berlin could offer Britain limited steps to enhance economic cooperation, Germany’s trade policy is dictated by its membership in the European Union.
Any significant changes would have to be agreed not in Berlin, but in Brussels.
Mr. Starmer could try to enlist Mr. Scholz’s help in changing that. But in Berlin, the main focus was on improving defense and security ties. Concerns about the United States’ commitment to Ukraine if Donald J. Trump wins the presidential election have underscored the importance for Germany of boosting defense cooperation. A key pillar of the new treaty with Britain, the German government said in a statement, would be to strengthen “the links between our defense communities, industries and armed forces.”
Britain’s push to improve economic ties with the European Union will likely have to wait until the autumn, when a new team is in place at the bloc’s main executive body, the European Commission.
Mr Starmer has already said he wants to improve trade in food, animal and plant products that have been mired in post-Brexit red tape. In return, Britain would have to agree to some European veterinary safety standards.
Mr Grant said that to win trade concessions, Britain would have to compromise on key European demands, including a comprehensive deal on fishing rights, a deal to help young people move more freely around the continent and Erasmus, a student exchange programme that Britain withdrew from as part of Brexit.
A youth mobility scheme could be politically sensitive in Britain, where legal immigration has risen rapidly after Brexit. But the government’s objections to rejoining Erasmus relate to financial pressures, Mr. Grant said. Estimates suggest it could cost the country 2 billion pounds, or $2.6 billion, over seven years.
“Changing the details will be much harder because Britain will have to bite the bullet and do some of the things the EU wants it to do,” Mr Grant said.
