Keir Starmer’s chief negotiator says the UK must be “ruthlessly pragmatic” with the Brexit reset talks and strike an ambitious deal in just three months.
European affairs minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told the EU/ UK Forum in Brussels on Tuesday that the prime minister will host a leader summit in May “where we hope we can deliver a balanced yet ambitious outcome to benefit all our citizens.”
The approach to the talks contrasts heavily with years taken by the Tories to negotiate Brexit after the 2016 referendum, bogged down by disputes in parliament and fractures in the Tory party before eventually leaving in 2020.
Among other issues on the table will be a youth mobility scheme for under-30s well as cooperation on trade, defence, energy security and tackling crime and illegal migration.
Mr Thomas-Symonds, who is based in the Cabinet Office, set the tough timetable as he prepared to enter the first round of talks later with EU representatives.
He told the audience “we can do better” highlighting “unnecessary barriers to trade” and a failure to properly cooperate over the migrant crisis.
The speech came amid international turbulence with the continued war in Ukraine and Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China and the EU.
Mr Thomas-Symonds underlined Sir Keir’s offer for the UK to play a much bigger role in European defence cooperation as part of the negotiations. but he said it needed to go much further on to economic matters too.
He said: “It is obvious to me, as I am sure it is to all of you, but at a time of such intense global change, the UK and the EU have many mutually aligned interests and challenges.
“We want increased prosperity, we want to strengthen our security, and we want our citizens to be safe. Those joint challenges that we face were powerfully set out by our chancellor, Rachel Reeves and indeed, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
“Just last week, in her growth speech, my friend the chancellor, did not shy away from the economic challenges that we are confronting. She said, growth will not come without a fight, without a government that is willing to take the right decisions now to change our country’s future for the better for too long, she said that potential has been held back.
“On the same day, President von der Leyen presented the competitiveness compass, saying that, and I quote, Europe has everything it needs to succeed, but at the same time, we must fix our weaknesses to regain competitiveness.”
The minister went on: “I want to say straightforwardly that we see real opportunities to improve the status quo. As Business Europe have set out in their report this autumn, there remain many unnecessary barriers to trade and investment following the election of new governments in the EU and UK, there is a clear opportunity to upgrade the relationship to deliver for businesses and citizens. I agree with them.”
He added: “Reducing trade barriers is of mutual benefit to the UK and the EU.”
