On Tuesday 15 October in Luxembourg, the European affairs ministers of the EU27 discussed the results of the meeting between the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, in Brussels at the beginning of October (see EUROPE 13495/16).
Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič briefed them to this effect and the ministers “generally welcomed the positive engagement and expressed their willingness to review ways to further strengthen this relationship”, explains the EU Council in a press release.
“They also recalled the importance of the full, faithful and timely implementation of existing agreements as a precondition for future commitments, as well as their responsibility within the Council for the overall relationship between the EU and the United Kingdom”.
“The UK has expressed an interest in restarting our relationship. Indeed, it makes sense to strengthen our strategic cooperation in areas that are mutually beneficial”, commented the Vice-President as he left the meeting.
The Commission now wants to know more about London’s plans for “the reset” in relations with the EU that Mr Starmer is calling for. “We will be pushing ahead with this programme at a steady pace over the coming weeks”, assured the Vice-President, who will be meeting his British counterpart, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the new Minister for Relations with Europe, next week.
According to one source, the ministers’ discussion remained fairly general on Tuesday, with the idea now being to analyse possible new areas of cooperation and discuss them again in December.
For example, the EU and the UK have no specific post-Brexit agreement on foreign affairs.
Strengthening cooperation on foreign affairs and security. The day before, the EU foreign affairs ministers had received their British counterpart, David Lammy.
The discussion was described as “excellent” by EU High Representative Josep Borrell.
It was the first time a British minister had met all his EU counterparts at a Council meeting since Brexit.
“This symbolises our new partnership with the United Kingdom and our desire to work more closely together, particularly in the field of security and defence”, Mr Borrell summed up when talking to the press. “In the face of an increasingly volatile and unstable world, the time is right for friends to stand together in partnership and work together on our shared foreign policy and security challenges”, he stressed in a joint statement with Mr Lammy.
To further strategic cooperation, the High Representative and the UK Secretary of State have agreed to establish a bi-annual foreign policy dialogue. The first meeting will take place in early 2025.
Mr Borrell and Mr Lammy also agreed on a number of regular strategic consultations on Russia/Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, the Western Balkans and hybrid threats.
On his arrival at the Council, Mr Lammy was very positive about the opportunity to meet his counterparts. “This is a historic moment, marking our EU reset”, he said.
See the joint statement: https://aeur.eu/f/dwb (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Camille-Cerise Gessant)