UK prime minister to meet EU leader over ties ‘reset’

Department of Research, Strategic Studies and International Relations 30-09-2024

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer will continue to edge his nation closer to the European Union at a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday.

Starmer, whose center-left Labour Party swept to victory in July after 14 years of Conservative Party rule, wants to “reset” the UK’s relationship with the EU following its exit from the bloc under the previous government. But he has also ruled out rejoining the bloc, over fears that would alienate voters who chose to leave in the 2016 referendum.

So, Starmer is seeking a closer alignment without angering the EU by asking for the benefits of membership without the obligations.

Despite the difficulty of the task, he wrote on the social media site X on Oct 25 he is “looking forward to visiting Brussels … to start discussions” with von der Leyen.

“I want to reset our relationship with the EU and make Brexit work for the British people,” he added.

Starmer has already taken that message on visits to France, Germany, Ireland, and Italy.

The meeting with von der Leyen was arranged after the pair met in the United States, on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The European news website Euractiv said Starmer will also likely sit down with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and European Council President Charles Michel.

The Press Association quoted him as saying: “I want to ensure that we’ve got a closer trading relationship if we can. I think it’s possible. I’m not going to pretend it’s easy, but I think it’s possible.”

The EU has said it could be open to a closer relationship – and easier trading – with the UK, if London supports an initiative to relax immigration rules for 18 to 30-year-olds traveling between the country and the bloc.

Starmer initially dismissed the idea but is now understood to be more open to it.

The i newspaper said a government source told it: “The PM has been clear that we need to get net migration down and that’s what we’re working on. A youth mobility scheme does not fit with that connection.”

But the source said a “watered down” version of the initiative could work.

Pedro Serrano, the EU’s ambassador to the UK, appeared to signal that the bloc could be amenable to such an idea when he told Times Radio on Thursday that the initiative could become more of a “gap year” experience than the four-year visa the EU had initially wanted.

Starmer responded by saying: “I don’t want to get ahead of any important discussion we’ll have, but it is an important meeting.”