(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s trip to Brussels on Wednesday will be his first real foray into forging a new post-Brexit relationship with Europe, a process expected to take months, if not years amid competing priorities.
Starmer will hold his first meeting in the Belgian capital with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen since sweeping to power in July. He’s eager to get an early sense of the viability of his plans for a security pact and veterinary agreement, before formal talks begin later this year.
Starmer’s Labour, in power for the first time since 2010, is trying to repair the damage to the UK’s ties with the bloc caused by years of fractious negotiations over Brexit. To signal a significant shift in relations, Britain and the EU are looking to hold their first bilateral summit next year, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing plans that haven’t been finalized.
As part of the rapprochement, Foreign Secretary David Lammy is also likely to attend a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers later this month, and he and Nick Thomas-Symonds, the minister in charge of EU negotiations, will meet their counterparts in Dublin this week after Starmer’s Brussels visit, the people said.
But while the EU and UK are eager to seize upon the positive reset, they have different priorities, suggesting yet more difficult talks lie ahead.
Starmer wants closer cooperation on defense, a relaxation of food checks, mutual recognition of professional qualifications and a special visa for touring artists. The UK has also made clear that longstanding red lines remain on not rejoining the single market and customs union.
The EU wants any new deals to build on the complete implementation of agreements that have already been signed post-Brexit. The bloc is seeking a youth mobility pact, energy cooperation and reassurances over citizens rights and fisheries. Germany and France have called for a bloc-wide deal on migration, and while Starmer has raised that prospect in the past, his government is now eyeing bilateral deals with France and Italy.
EU diplomats say the UK’s proposals for security and veterinary deals are doable, but are privately frustrated by the lack of detail, with some member states urging the bloc to be cautious in brokering new agreements with Britain.
They’ve also been disappointed by Starmer’s early dismissal of a proposal to allow EU and UK citizens between 18 to 30 years to stay in the destination country for as long as four years, they said.
The UK’s main concern is that such a pact would inflate net migration figures, which Starmer has promised to lower, officials told Bloomberg. The new administration is looking to the EU to rework its initial proposal to make it more appealing to the UK, they said, even though they don’t anticipate it shifting the dial significantly.
“I know that it raises questions and concerns and some people mix it up with migration-related issues or mobility-related issues,” Pedro Serrano, EU Ambassador to the UK, told Times Radio last week. But “it has nothing to do with any of that. This is about ensuring that our youth continues to get together to know each other.”
Despite Starmer telling reporters last week that the UK has “no plans” for such a deal, the government is willing to discuss the idea as part of wider UK-EU negotiations, people familiar with the matter said.
UK officials expect formal negotiations to begin in December or January, once the EU’s new commission completes the confirmation process. Both UK and EU diplomats believe that 2025 is the crucial window for thrashing out these pacts, and warn that momentum from the reset under the new UK administration risks being lost beyond that.
“We will only be able to tackle these challenges by putting our collective weight behind them, which is why I am so determined to put the Brexit years behind us and establish a more pragmatic and mature relationship with the European Union,” Starmer said late Tuesday in a statement. “Better co-operation with the EU will deliver the benefits the British people deserve: securing our borders, keeping us safe and boosting economic growth.”
This week, Starmer may also raise the EU’s new biometric data sharing system, which is expected to trigger border delays when it is rolled out in November. The UK is particularly worried that its introduction will coincide with Armistice Day, when there will be an uptick of people traveling between Britain and France, the people familiar said. Starmer’s administration wants an update from the EU on whether its member states are prepared and if not, if the implementation will be delayed again, they said.
--With assistance from Andrea Palasciano and Alex Morales.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
