Dublin (AFP) – UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham mingles with European leaders in Dublin on Thursday as both sides put the finishing touches on a “reset” deal set to be signed next week. The European Political Community (EPC) meeting, taking place under Ireland’s largest security operation ever amid growing concerns over hybrid attacks, will focus on Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived late Wednesday to meet European leaders, as well as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who will first travel Thursday to Moscow after two days of talks on the Ukraine war in Abu Dhabi. The meeting also represents a timely opportunity for Burnham to state his case for closer relations with the bloc before he meets the European Union’s top two officials for a Brussels summit on November 20.
The talks in Belgium are expected to deliver three main agreements that Burnham hopes will help spark life into the UK’s anaemic economy, aiding his main objective of lowering living costs. It is set to pave the way for further cooperation, with Burnham even touting the possibility that Britain could one day apply to rejoin the 27-nation bloc it left after the 2016 Brexit referendum.
– ‘Significant prize’ –
“There could be a significant prize next week if we successfully secure practical agreements that make the country better off,” Burnham told his cabinet on Tuesday, the government said. Burnham’s appearance at the EPC — a biannual forum established by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2022 — will see him meet some of Europe’s leaders for the first since he entered Downing Street in July.
Burnham’s predecessor Keir Starmer kickstarted Britain’s EU reboot after his Labour Party won a 2024 general election that ousted the right-wing Conservatives from power after 14 years. Burnham has expressed a willingness to go further, pledging to lay out different options for Britain’s future relationship with the EU around the time of the Brussels summit.
In Belgium, Burnham and European chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa are expected to ink a deal cutting red tape for food exports, another linking the two sides’ emissions-trading schemes and a third on a “youth experience scheme”.
– Bomb threats –
Diplomats and officials in Brussels are upbeat about the prospects for a successful summit, even if the haggling with London over the details shows both sides are still willing to fight their corner. A senior EU diplomat told AFP the three deals appeared to have largely been wrapped up but there was still debate over the “choreography” of how the different agreements fit together.
EU ambassadors held a fresh round of talks on a draft summit statement Wednesday and were set to come back to it in the days leading up to the summit. An earlier draft seen by AFP would allow young people from the EU and the UK to reside for up to three years in each other’s territory for activities such as work, study or travelling. The text is still being negotiated with the UK side and could yet change before November 20.
There is not yet a final breakthrough on a key Brussels demand that London allow EU students to pay the same fees as local students at UK universities, and not the current higher rate. Britain meanwhile is urging the EU not to leave it out of its “Made in Europe” industrial push. Polls regularly show that most Britons regret leaving the EU, but even the ruling Labour party is divided on how close Burnham should seek to get.
“The noises from Burnham are all very positive, even if no one believes the UK will rejoin in our lifetimes,” the EU diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. In Dublin, European leaders are likely to put on a show of support for Zelensky as they seek security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any peace deal with Russia. The EPC comes after a wave of hoax bomb threats targeting airlines and media organisations across Europe, with Irish police reporting new incidents every day this week.
© 2024 AFP
