Sir Keir Starmer is expected to meet with the EU’s top official within weeks as he seeks a ‘reset’ of Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with Brussels.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen missed two recent opportunities to hold talks with the Prime Minister following his general election win.
She skipped both the NATO summit in Washington DC and the European Political Community gathering at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, earlier this month.
This was due to Ms von der Leyen focusing on her successful bid to win a second five-year term as Brussels’ most senior bureaucrat.
According to the Financial Times, the German politician’s team are now working on arranging a meeting with Sir Keir in late August or early September.
Since entering No10, the PM has promised a ‘reset’ of Britain’s ties with the EU, to rewite the UK’s ‘botched’ Brexit trade deal, and to strike a new UK-EU security pact.
Speaking at the opening of last week’s EPC summit, Sir Keir told European leaders: ‘I’m not driven by ideology – but by what is best for my country.
‘So we will strengthen our existing relationships and we will build new ones. This includes resetting our relationship with the EU.
‘Because I believe that the UK and the EU, working together as sovereign partners, are a powerful force for good across our continent.’
An EU official told the newspaper that Brussels was in ‘listening mode’ as the Labour PM seeks altered trade terms with the bloc.
But Sir Keir was warned there was a ‘limit’ on what he could achieve due to his insistence the UK would not rejoin the EU’s single market or customs union.
‘The UK has red lines that limit what can be done,’ another EU official said.
‘But there is goodwill on both sides. The president worked well with the previous government and wants to continue with the new government.’
Asked about plans for an upcoming meeting between Sir Keir and Ms von der Leyen, the PM’s official spokesman told reporters: ‘We’ll update on leader meetings in the usual way. I haven’t got anything to update you on on this occasion.’