Keir Starmer to carry talks with EU on defence co-operation

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Sir Keir Starmer has agreed to attend a defence assembly with EU leaders in Brussels in February for instance the necessity for “nearer collaboration between like-minded companions”.

The UK prime minister accepted the invitation to attend the assembly, the primary between a British chief and the bloc’s 27 members since Brexit, throughout talks with European Council president António Costa in Downing Road.

In a joint assertion on Thursday, either side stated they’d “affirmed the intention to strengthen” the bilateral relationship, with Starmer and Costa agreeing on “the very important significance of nearer collaboration between like-minded companions at an more and more unstable time for the world”.

The assembly in Brussels will take a look at methods to boost co-operation on safety and defence. A separate EU-UK summit “in early 2025” would contemplate different features of a “reset” in relations, together with a potential decreasing of commerce obstacles, the assertion stated.

The 2 sides added that this “would supply an essential alternative to make additional progress on key areas to ship tangible advantages for the folks of the UK and the EU”.

Costa’s assembly with Starmer in Downing Road got here simply 12 days after he took workplace in Brussels, in an indication that the previous Portuguese prime minister needs to prioritise the bloc’s relationship with the UK.

The Monetary Instances first reported on Wednesday that Starmer would settle for Costa’s invitation to dine with EU leaders on February 3.

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 Group like his Conservative predecessors Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

Reducing obstacles is a key focus for either side however, earlier than the assembly, 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 and Starmer additionally had an off-the-cuff dialogue about political developments, together with within the Center East. Forward of the assembly, one EU official stated: “It’s value noting that, within the present geopolitical context, it is going to be a second to concentrate on the truth that the EU and UK have a standard stance on many subjects, akin to Ukraine.”

The assembly got here amid rising disquiet among the many pro-Europe wing of the governing UK Labour get together on the stage of ambition for the EU-UK “reset”, significantly over bettering commerce ties and placing a deal to allow 18 to 30-year-olds to reside, work and examine in every others’ nations.

Starmer is predicted to signal a brand new safety partnership accord with the EU early within the new yr. However he has been notably cautious on the commerce and mobility components of the reset, repeatedly ruling out a deal on youth mobility.

In the meantime, voters within the UK and main EU nations are extra open to strengthening EU-UK ties than politicians on either side, significantly in mild of Donald Trump’s victory within the US presidential race, in accordance with a brand new survey.

A complete of 55 per cent of Britons supported a “nearer” relationship with the EU, in contrast with 10 per cent who wished it to be extra distant, confirmed a ballot revealed by the European Council on Overseas Relations (ECFR) on Thursday.

There was additionally widespread help 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 had been extra reluctant, with simply 34 per cent in favour.

The YouGov and Datapraxis ballot based mostly on 9,278 respondents throughout six nations additionally discovered a really clear choice 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 choice.

The EU has additionally been extremely circumspect in its strategy to the reset, warning member states in inside paperwork that the bloc ought to keep on with the “no cherry-picking” mantra that underpinned unique Brexit talks after 2017.

Nonetheless, the ballot for the think-tank discovered that respondents in EU nations had been extra keen to simply accept that the UK be granted “particular entry” to the EU single market as a way to strengthen the strategic partnership.

ECFR director Mark Leonard stated the polling confirmed Brexit-era divisions had been fading, including: “Governments now have to meet up with public opinion and provide an bold reset.”