'Britain at the heart of Europe': How Starmer's plans are going down in the EU

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. 'Britain at the heart of Europe': How Starmer's plans are going down in the EU29 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleKatya AdlerEurope Editor , in Brussles Getty ImagesSir Keir Starmer said he wants to rebuild the UK's relationship with Europe"A UK prime minister, using the idea of getting closer to the European Union as a key way to get the British public on his side? That is certainly not something we EU-types would have predicted. Especially when you think - it's the 10-year anniversary of the Brexit vote next month!

"This was the response of an EU contact of mine, here in Brussels. He asked to remain anonymous to be able to speak freely. We were discussing the highly anticipated speech given by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The Details

Following the massive slap in the face he got from voters last week in local elections, he launched a bid this morning to save his political life. In what was billed to be a defiant address, Starmer pledged to lay out "a platform on which we can build" tighter links with the EU. The place to do that, he seemed to intimate, was around the next EU-UK summit this summer.

"This Labour government will be defined by rebuilding our relationship with Europe, by putting Britain at the heart of Europe, so that we are stronger on the economy, stronger on trade, stronger on defence," he said. Jill Rutter, former British civil servant and senior research fellow of the think tank UK in a Changing Europe, described his comments as "a damp squib". It lacked even "one single new proposal", she told me.

The response across the Channel is mixed. Quite different on trade and the economy, as opposed to defence and security. On defence, Europe is very much concentrating on the bigger picture: Iran, the Russia-Ukraine crisis and deteriorating relations with the US under Donald Trump.

What Experts Say

The UK is viewed as a key and constant ally inside Nato and alongside the EU. On Monday, the UK announced its latest sanctions package against Russia, for example. I will prove doubters wrong, says StarmerThere is a continental confidence, I pick up in my conversations, that UK foreign and international policy will broadly remain the same, whether Starmer remains UK prime minister, or if, over the next weeks or months, he were to be unseated by potential leadership rivals.

That includes continuing to play a leading role in supporting Ukraine and trying to assemble an international maritime force to safeguard ships in the Strait of Hormuz, when the Iran crisis eventually abates. But when it comes to economic ties with the UK, there is a sense of weary cynicism in Brussels. On Monday, Starmer proclaimed that: "Incremental change won't cut it on growth, defence, Europe, energy - we need a bigger response than we anticipated in 2024 because these are not ordinary times.

"But what does he actually mean by "a bigger response" on Europe? The EU has been clear with the UK since Brexit.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.