Little substance emerged from the first meeting between Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen, with the two leaders promising to strengthen EU-UK relations at ‘pace’ with a summit planned for early next year.
A joint statement on Wednesday (2 October), following talks between the new UK premier and European Commission president in Brussels, vowed to “take forward this agenda of strengthened cooperation at pace over the coming months”.
Starmer, who has repeatedly promised to ‘reset’ EU-UK relations and work more closely with the bloc than his conservative predecessors since winning elections in July, also met with European Council and Parliament presidents Charles Michel and Roberta Metsola on Wednesday evening.
A further meeting is planned in the coming weeks, while a first EU-UK summit is set to be held in early 2025 “to oversee the development of the relationship”.
After years of tense relations between the EU and Starmer’s predecessors following the UK’s decision to leave the EU in 2020, there has been significant hype about a more constructive relationship.
However, the talks, held against the backdrop of the crisis in the Middle East, were something of a damp squib.
In a statement ahead of the talks, Starmer’s office said that he was “focused on delivering a broad-based security pact, securing our borders and tackling barriers to trade.”
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Benjamin Fox