Post by ltdgas on Jun 17, 2024 18:27:26 GMT
Closer UK ties not an EU priority despite Labour hopes
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would align some regulations with the EU in order to boost trade
PABest Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves during a visit to Ocean Gate, Eastern Docks in Southampton, while on the General Election campaign trail. Picture date: Monday June 17, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story POLITICS Election. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves on the campaign trail visit Ocean Gate, Eastern Docks in Southampton (Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
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By Hugo Gye
Political Editor
June 17, 2024 6:42 pm(Updated 7:20 pm)
Labour could struggle to strike a more ambitious post-Brexit deal for closer relations with Brussels because the UK is no longer a priority, EU insiders have warned.
Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at the current arrangements as “not good enough” and Rachel Reeves has promised to push for “bespoke” deals on specific issues to soften the economic impact of Brexit.
But sources in the European Commission have warned Labour that any changes must fit with the existing legal framework, agreed by Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak over the past few years.
Brussels is currently in political flux after the European Parliament elections in which there was a rise in support for the far right, with no confirmation yet on who will occupy the two most senior EU jobs and the leaders of France and Germany both weakened by the election results.
Speaking at a campaign event in Southampton on Monday, Starmer said: “We took a decision to leave the EU, so we are not going to go back in. But we think the deal we’ve got is botched, it’s not good enough and I think many businesses would say ‘we need something that works better for us’.
“Because if you make it more difficult to trade, guess what? It’s not so successful from our point of view. We do think there’s a better deal to be had, obviously that will have to be negotiated.”
His comments came after Ms Reeves, the shadow Chancellor, said she was willing to align regulations with the EU in key areas to boost trade ties, telling the Financial Times: “I don’t think anyone voted Leave because they were not happy that chemicals regulations were the same across Europe.”
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She also pointed to mutual recognition of professional qualifications as a move Labour would pursue.
But senior EU sources have warned that there is little appetite in Brussels for rewriting either the withdrawal agreement or the trade and co-operation agreement (TCA) which were signed by Johnson and finessed in 2023 by Sunak under the Windsor framework.
An insider praised Labour’s “ambition” but added: “There isn’t really a team of people following every single announcement within the campaign. Most people in Brussels won’t even have noticed Rachel Reeves’s latest. It’s not at the top of their agendas, currently.”
The source warned: “The EU is a legal construct that moves within a legal space – which means that we currently have a legal space based on two main agreements, the withdrawal agreement and the TCA, and that that is legal space within which the relationship currently stands.”
The Irish Government, which was boosted during the years after the 2016 Brexit referendum by the support of other EU member states, is understood to be concerned that the issue is less of a priority for its allies now.
A senior Dublin source said: “The important thing for us is keeping the whole of the EU with us. For everyone in Europe apart for Ireland and the UK, Brexit is ancient history now.”
Labour has promised not to take the UK back into the European single market or customs union, or to allow the freedom of movement between Britain and the EU.
The party has not yet set out a firm position on whether it would be willing to consider allowing the European Court of Justice oversight of any post-Brexit arrangements, which some in Brussels say is crucial for building closer ties.
Election 2024
Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer and other party leaders are on the campaign trail, and i‘s election live blog is the go-to place for everything on the general election.
All the main parties have launched their manifestos: read i‘s breakdown of all the pledges from the Tories, Green Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Reform UK.
i has urged the parties to commit to its Save Britain’s Rivers manifesto to improve our waterways. The Lib Dems became the first to back the campaign, followed by the Green Party.
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😂😂😂😂, all those remainiacs getting there hopes up , dashed by the eu , poetic justice 😂😂😂
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would align some regulations with the EU in order to boost trade
PABest Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves during a visit to Ocean Gate, Eastern Docks in Southampton, while on the General Election campaign trail. Picture date: Monday June 17, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story POLITICS Election. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves on the campaign trail visit Ocean Gate, Eastern Docks in Southampton (Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
author avatar image
By Hugo Gye
Political Editor
June 17, 2024 6:42 pm(Updated 7:20 pm)
Labour could struggle to strike a more ambitious post-Brexit deal for closer relations with Brussels because the UK is no longer a priority, EU insiders have warned.
Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at the current arrangements as “not good enough” and Rachel Reeves has promised to push for “bespoke” deals on specific issues to soften the economic impact of Brexit.
But sources in the European Commission have warned Labour that any changes must fit with the existing legal framework, agreed by Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak over the past few years.
Brussels is currently in political flux after the European Parliament elections in which there was a rise in support for the far right, with no confirmation yet on who will occupy the two most senior EU jobs and the leaders of France and Germany both weakened by the election results.
Speaking at a campaign event in Southampton on Monday, Starmer said: “We took a decision to leave the EU, so we are not going to go back in. But we think the deal we’ve got is botched, it’s not good enough and I think many businesses would say ‘we need something that works better for us’.
“Because if you make it more difficult to trade, guess what? It’s not so successful from our point of view. We do think there’s a better deal to be had, obviously that will have to be negotiated.”
His comments came after Ms Reeves, the shadow Chancellor, said she was willing to align regulations with the EU in key areas to boost trade ties, telling the Financial Times: “I don’t think anyone voted Leave because they were not happy that chemicals regulations were the same across Europe.”
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She also pointed to mutual recognition of professional qualifications as a move Labour would pursue.
But senior EU sources have warned that there is little appetite in Brussels for rewriting either the withdrawal agreement or the trade and co-operation agreement (TCA) which were signed by Johnson and finessed in 2023 by Sunak under the Windsor framework.
An insider praised Labour’s “ambition” but added: “There isn’t really a team of people following every single announcement within the campaign. Most people in Brussels won’t even have noticed Rachel Reeves’s latest. It’s not at the top of their agendas, currently.”
The source warned: “The EU is a legal construct that moves within a legal space – which means that we currently have a legal space based on two main agreements, the withdrawal agreement and the TCA, and that that is legal space within which the relationship currently stands.”
The Irish Government, which was boosted during the years after the 2016 Brexit referendum by the support of other EU member states, is understood to be concerned that the issue is less of a priority for its allies now.
A senior Dublin source said: “The important thing for us is keeping the whole of the EU with us. For everyone in Europe apart for Ireland and the UK, Brexit is ancient history now.”
Labour has promised not to take the UK back into the European single market or customs union, or to allow the freedom of movement between Britain and the EU.
The party has not yet set out a firm position on whether it would be willing to consider allowing the European Court of Justice oversight of any post-Brexit arrangements, which some in Brussels say is crucial for building closer ties.
Election 2024
Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer and other party leaders are on the campaign trail, and i‘s election live blog is the go-to place for everything on the general election.
All the main parties have launched their manifestos: read i‘s breakdown of all the pledges from the Tories, Green Party, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Reform UK.
i has urged the parties to commit to its Save Britain’s Rivers manifesto to improve our waterways. The Lib Dems became the first to back the campaign, followed by the Green Party.
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😂😂😂😂, all those remainiacs getting there hopes up , dashed by the eu , poetic justice 😂😂😂