Sir Keir Starmer will on Thursday settle for an invite to carry talks on defence co-operation with the EU, within the first such assembly between a British prime minister and the bloc’s 27 leaders since Brexit.
António Costa, the brand new European Council president, will prolong the symbolic invitation to Starmer at a gathering in Downing Avenue, in an indication of bettering relations between the 2 sides.
Costa’s assembly with Starmer comes simply 12 days after he took workplace in Brussels, in an indication that the previous Portuguese prime minister desires to prioritise the bloc’s relationship with the UK.
On Thursday he’ll focus on his invitation to Starmer to attend dinner with EU leaders on February 3 at a casual retreat in Belgium on safety issues. “The prime minister will settle for the invitation,” one British official mentioned.
Starmer would be the first UK premier to fulfill the 27 since Britain left the EU in 2020, though he has attended gatherings of the broader European Political Neighborhood like his Conservative predecessors Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
Costa and Starmer may also work on dates for an EU-UK summit within the first half of 2025, which would be the focus of efforts to “reset” post-Brexit ties, together with decreasing limitations between the 2 sides.
However officers in Brussels burdened it was too early to enter detailed talks on the reset of relations. The EU has postponed the adoption of a negotiating mandate for what it now calls a “youth expertise scheme”.
Costa is anticipated to have a casual dialogue about political developments, together with within the Center East, one EU official mentioned.
“It’s value noting that, within the present geopolitical context, it will likely be a second to give attention to the truth that the EU and UK have a typical stance on many matters, equivalent to Ukraine,” the individual mentioned.
The assembly comes amid rising disquiet among the many pro-Europe wing of the governing UK Labour celebration on the stage of ambition for the EU-UK “reset”, notably over bettering commerce ties and hanging a deal to allow 18 to 30-year-olds to stay, work and research in every others’ international locations.
Starmer is anticipated to signal a brand new safety partnership accord with the EU early within the new 12 months. However he has been notably cautious on the commerce and mobility parts of the reset, repeatedly ruling out a deal on youth mobility.
In the meantime voters within the UK and main EU international locations are extra open to strengthening EU-UK ties than politicians on either side, notably in mild of Donald Trump’s victory within the US presidential race, in line with a brand new survey.
Some 55 per cent of Britons supported a “nearer” relationship with the EU, in contrast with 10 per cent who needed it to be extra distant, confirmed a ballot revealed by the European Council on Overseas Relations on Thursday.
There was additionally widespread assist amongst main EU states for an EU-UK rapprochement, with greater than 40 per cent of Germans, Poles, Spaniards and Italians backing nearer ties. French respondents have been extra reluctant, with simply 34 per cent in favour.
The YouGov and Datapraxis ballot based mostly on 9,278 respondents throughout six international locations additionally discovered a really clear desire amongst Britons for prioritising relations with Brussels over Washington following Trump’s return to the White Home.
Requested if the UK ought to prioritise relations with “our European neighbours” or with the US, 50 per cent of respondents selected Europe and 17 per cent chosen America, with the rest not expressing a desire.
The EU has additionally been extremely circumspect in its method to the reset, warning member states in inside paperwork that the bloc ought to follow the “no cherry choosing” mantra that underpinned authentic talks after 2017.
Nevertheless the ballot for the think-tank discovered that respondents in EU international locations have been extra keen to simply accept that the UK be granted “particular entry” to the EU single market to be able to strengthen the strategic partnership.
ECFR director Mark Leonard mentioned the polling confirmed Brexit-era divisions have been fading, including: “Governments now must meet up with public opinion and supply an formidable reset.”
