Keir Starmer said he is 'very pleased' on the progress (Image: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publis)
Sir Keir Starmer said he is “really pleased” that the UK and the EU have made progress on plans to “reset” their relationship, with work on plans for “a partnership” on energy policy and a new defence pact. The Prime Minister welcomed President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to Downing Street, calling her “my friend”, and said: “I’m really pleased that we’ve committed to a reset of our relationship, a really important relationship, which I think will be of huge benefit to both of us.”
The EU has been pushing the UK to sign up to a youth mobility scheme allowing both EU citizens aged between 18 and 30 years old to stay and work in Britain for up to four years as the price of the reset. British young people will be able to do the same in EU nations. Supporters of the scheme, who reportedly include Chancellor Rachel Reeves, deny it would mark a return to freedom of movement between the EU and UK.
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Sir Keir pledged to work more closely with the EU on energy, saying it would protect British households from future price rises.
Speaking at a London energy summit, Sir Keir said: “This is the moment to act. And it is the moment to build a partnership with the EU that meets the needs of our time, facing up to the global shocks of recent years and working together to minimise the impact on hard-working people.
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“So we’re doing more with the EU to improve our interconnections and make the most of our shared energy systems as well as building on the fantastic partnerships that we already have.”
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Ursula von der Leyen has suggested talks with Sir Keir Starmer could “pave the way” to the UK joining a European security programme.
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Speaking from Downing Street on Thursday, the president of the European Commission said: “Europe has to step up its defence expenditure, we will discuss that. I very much welcome that quite a few number of countries have recently announced a substantial increase of defence expenditure.
“And bilaterally, of course, we will discuss work on a strategic security and defence partnership agreement, which might pave the way then to a joint procurement and UK participation in our Safe programme.”
SafeE stands for Security Action for Europe, a programme that allows EU members and countries who have signed defence and security partnerships to work together on defence procurement.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly at in favour of relaxing visa rules for young Europeans as it would help to grow the economy, while Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is believed to have argued against a scheme over fears of the impact on migration figures.
Asked about a youth mobility scheme earlier this week, Ms Reeves said: "Those discussions with our colleagues and allies in the European Union are ongoing at the moment.
“We made a clear manifesto commitment to bring down net migration and for no return to free movement within the European Union. It is important that we determine who comes into our country and those things are not up for negotiation.”
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Ursula von der Leyen said that she also wanted to discuss migration with Sir Keir Starmer as part of their meeting on Thursday.
Speaking from Downing Street, the president of the European Commission said: “We share the same objective, we have always fulfilled our international obligations.
“We have done this in the past, we do this today, and we will do it tomorrow, but it is us Europeans who decide on is coming to Europe, and under what circumstances and not the smugglers.”