British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer visited Brussels on Wednesday (2 October) to strengthen ties with the European Union in what he called “dangerous times.”
The new premier, whose centre-left Labour Party won July’s general election promising to “reset” relations with the EU, met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday afternoon, with plans to meet the presidents of the European Parliament and European Council later that day.
The European Commission and 10 Downing Street – the Prime Minister’s office – were tight-lipped about the meeting agenda. However, von der Leyen and Starmer emphasised global security threats – particularly the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine – in brief public comments they made as they went into their closed-door meeting.
“In dangerous times, we have a duty to work together to preserve stability and security,” Starmer said.
Similarly, von der Leyen said: “in these very uncertain times, like minded partners like us must cooperate more closely and that is what we are doing.”
In a written statement sent to journalists late on Tuesday (1 October), Number 10 said Starmer wants a “security pact” with the EU, but did not go into details on what that might look like.
On Wednesday, von der Leyen and Starmer both condemned the Iranian missile attacks on Israel following the latter’s invasion of Lebanon on Tuesday.
The pair also emphasised their support for Ukraine, while Starmer expressed solidarity with Israel. “We stand with Israel recognising her full right to security and to self defence,” he said.
Nevertheless, compared to other unsolved aspects of post-Brexit relations, the domain of security and defence is one where London and Brussels will likely find it easier to agree to closer cooperation, at least in principle.
Migration and trade are much thornier topics, but they are also central to Starmer’s ambitions for a reset. The Downing Street press release also said the prime minister was focused on “securing our borders and tackling barriers to trade.”
Arriving at the meeting on Wednesday, Starmer said he believes the British public wants “to make Brexit work and to deliver in their interests, to find ways to boost economic growth, strengthen our security and tackle shared challenges like irregular migration and climate change.”
For instance, Britain wants a solution to the problem of irregular migration across the English Channel from France. But EU member states are unlikely to accept any agreement on returning irregular migrants unless Britain agrees to help share the burden of processing asylum seekers who arrive in Europe, EU diplomats told Euractiv.
Von der Leyen did not directly mention migration or trade in her brief remarks before their meeting. Instead, she pointed to the existing agreements struck by Starmer’s conservative predecessors, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.
“We have a set of solid agreements in place,” she said. “We should explore the scope for more cooperation while we focus on the full and faithful implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Windsor Framework, and the TCA,” referring to the 2020 Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
The EU argues that Britain is failing to implement fundamental aspects of these agreements, such as protecting the residency and labour rights of EU citizens who arrived in the country before Brexit, and ensuring the application of EU customs rules without creating a hard land border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
At a closed-door meeting of EU countries’ ambassadors on Monday, diplomats also asked the Commission to push Starmer to extend an agreement allowing the EU fishing industry to access British waters. The current deal expires in 2026.
Starmer’s visit on Wednesday is not expected to make major breakthroughs on trade and migration – but rather to restart diplomatic talks. The prime minister is expected to hold a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday evening.
[Edited by Owen Morgan]
Source: euractiv.com
