Brexit talks are back — forever

BRUSSELS — Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen agreed to hold regular U.K.-EU summits on the future of the cross-Channel relationship.

In effect, Brexit talks are back for good.

After their first bilateral meeting since Starmer took power, the European Commission president and British prime minister on Wednesday promised a renewed “agenda of strengthened cooperation” between Britain and the EU. They just couldn’t quite say what it was for yet.

In a joint statement, the pair pledged to meet again later in the autumn to flesh out exactly what they would negotiate about.

They also set the stage for “regular EU-U.K. summits at leader-level to oversee the development of the relationship,” aiming to hold the first of what could be many in early 2025.

Youth mobility?

The British PM previously snubbed Brussels’ offer of a youth mobility agreement, which the Commission views as the price of entry for talks on Starmer’s own priorities like a veterinary agreement with the bloc to ease post-Brexit trade frictions; a security agreement; and the mutual recognition of professional qualifications.

Starmer has said he has “no plans” for such a scheme, which some in his government fear looks too much like the return of freedom of movement.

But Starmer and von der Leyen dodged the most difficult issues during their meeting at the European Commission on Wednesday, with Starmer telling reporters after the event that “today wasn’t about those individual issues,” but instead setting a framework for discussions.

“I firmly believe that the British public wants a return to pragmatic, sensible leadership when it comes to dealing with our closest neighbors, to make Brexit work and to deliver in their interest to find ways to boost economic growth, strengthen our security and tackle shared challenges like irregular migration and climate change,” he said.

For now, Brussels is playing it cool. The message from von der Leyen was a familiar one: implement the deals we already have, then we can really talk.

“We have a set of solid agreements in place,” she told reporters while standing next to Starmer. “We should explore the scope for more cooperation while we focus on the full and faithful implementation of the withdrawal agreement, the Windsor framework, and the [Trade and Cooperation Agreement].”

“Member states want to capitalize on the positive momentum which seems to be there with Labour government in office,” one EU diplomat told POLITICO. “But it’s not enough to simply say one wants a reset, it requires actual work … there can only be a reset if the U.K. moves.”

‘Tone matters’

When pressed on whether his red lines matched his rhetoric of a reset, Starmer told reporters after the meeting: “Tone does matter. Resetting does matter. And that has been a very important part of the message that I have carried into the meeting today: a return to pragmatism, to doing business in a respectful way and in a way which I think will focus on deliverables rather than charging to the nearest camera to use a megaphone.”

On the issue of youth mobility, he said: “I have made it clear what our position is and in particular that free movement is a red line. But today wasn’t about those individual issues, it was about the way in which we will conduct those negotiations and the emphasis was on what we can do, not what we can’t do, and on deliverables rather than running commentary.”

Diplomats from EU member countries said they also have other priorities, like securing long-term fishing access in U.K. waters and easier cross-channel energy trading.

Asked about fishing, Starmer said “that literally was not the nature of the discussion today.”

In a joint statement issued after their meeting von der Leyen and Starmer “agreed to take forward this agenda of strengthened cooperation at pace over the coming months, starting with defining together the areas in which strengthened cooperation would be mutually beneficial, such as the economy, energy, security and resilience, in full respect of their internal procedures and institutional prerogatives.”