The newly elected chair of the European Parliament’s delegation to the EU-UK parliamentary partnership assembly, Sandro Gozi, has called on Keir Starmer’s administration to clarify its intentions regarding the revision of UK’s ties with the European Union. Gozi, an Italian ex-minister for European affairs and part of France’s Democratic Movement party allied with Emmanuel Macron’s MEPs, noted the potential for this recalibration especially with Starmer’s government exhibiting a shift in demeanor.
Gozi, who is adopting a receptive stance, asserted that it should be the UK government that elucidates what this “resetting” entails. Among the areas he hopes for enhanced collaboration include foreign policy, security, the environmental shift, and artificial intelligence, although he insisted that the UK must pinpoint potential collaboration areas.
This statement was given prior to a planned meal meeting involving David Lammy and his EU counterparts in Luxembourg. Although Lammy is not the first UK foreign secretary to partake in an EU foreign affairs council session after Brexit – Liz Truss attended an urgent meet in March 2022 following Russia’s Ukraine incursion, it will be Lammy’s maiden encounter with all 27 EU ministers. Additionally, he will have a one-on-one meeting with EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, who supervises EU foreign ministers’ meetings.
A senior European Union official has expressed his optimism about moving forward past Brexit, anticipating a new phase of partnership with the United Kingdom. The official noted that the upcoming meeting signifies a crucial starting point in bolstering diplomatic cooperation with Britain. Security agreements represent one of the main areas of common interest, the official pointed out, believing that the two sides can accomplish much together.
The British government, with Mr. Lammy taking the lead, has outlined a comprehensive strategy for a foreign policy and security agreement with the EU that will focus on a number of areas, including the climate crisis, energy matters, pandemics, and unlawful migration.
The Foreign Secretary, however, is projected to mainly focus on discussions of Ukraine and the Middle East in conversations with EU foreign ministers, as opposed to engaging in in-depth negotiations concerning prospective agreements with the European bloc, as reported by the Guardian.