Sir Keir Starmer on Monday evening urged EU leaders to re-engage with Britain five years after Brexit, as he refused to “choose” between the closest relationships with Brussels or Washington.
Starmer, the first British prime minister to address the European Council of EU leaders since Brexit, said he wanted a new pact of defense and security to be at the heart of a “resettlement” relationship.
Asked if he can have close economic ties with both Europe and Donald Trump’s US, Starmer said: “Both of these relationships are very important to us.. We are not choosing among them.”
This assertion is likely to be tested in the coming months if Trump follows his threat of tariffs against the EU, while Starmer tries to avoid such fate by seeking improved conditions of UK trade with the US
Monday’s European Council’s dinner at Palais d’Egmont in Brussels was a symbolic approach between the United Kingdom and the EU, just over five years after Brexit came into force on January 31, 2020.
It was in the same palace that conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath signed the treaty by taking Britain to the European Economic Community – an EU predecessor in 1972.
Starmer hopes that by offering to work closely on military and intelligent EU issues – an area where the United Kingdom has traditional strengths – it can begin to unlock wider economic benefits.
Proposed Security and Protection Pact-which will also cover areas such as the treatment of illegal migration-is expected to end in broader negotiations in the UK-EU over the coming months.
Talks with Brussels are likely to be difficult for Starmer, with the EU demanding constant access to British fishing waters and a youth mobility scheme that would allow EU citizens under 30 years old to travel and work to Britain.
An EU-UK summit is expected to take place in April or May try to galvanize those talks, with a growing meaning in European capitals that the continent must heal old wounds, especially when Trump squares against America’s transatlantic allies.
Starmer is ready to take some political risks, including the search for obstacles to the trade of food products – even if this requires the United Kingdom to convince the EU rules and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
He is also seeking to connect the UK carbon emissions market with the EU itself and participate in an EU-Middle commercial zone, an action that would stop much from participating in the Block’s customs union.
Brexit’s ISSUES remains toxic to the UK, though a recent poll in Youugov found 55 percent of people now say it was wrong to leave the EU, with only 11 percent seeing Brexit as more success than a failure.
Conservative critics have called the team of officials with 50 forces accused of negotiating an improved Brexit agreement led by former Treasury official Michael Ellam- “Delivery Team”.
Starmer, speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels before the EU meeting, said he wanted Britain and EU countries to be “ambitious” and work closely in defense cooperation, including procurement of military equipment .
“Our protection costs are now 2.3 percent of GDP and we are working hard to set the road to 2.5 percent,” he said. It is unclear when the United Kingdom will hit that target.
“We cannot be commentators when it comes to peace issues on our continent. We must lead and that is what I am determined to do.”
While France and other coastal states want to resolve issues about fishing as a prelude to a wider agreement in the UK-EU, other countries will bring their concerns to the table.
“Of course, there is still a major part that has to end up in the post -Brexit solution in the UK, and that is Gibraltar,” said a Spanish Foreign Ministry official. “Complete normalization will not be possible until this agreement is reached.”
