UK PM attends first EU meeting since Brexit

When Sir Keir Starmer sits down for dinner this evening it will be the first time since Brexit that a British prime minister has the room on his own with the EU’s leaders.

“That’s good and that’s positive,” said Ireland’s Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, arriving in Brussels for the meeting.

But, behind the scenes, initial enthusiasm for the new British government has waned over recent months.

Although EU leaders have welcomed the promised “Brexit reset” there’s been disappointment that, so far, nothing tangible has been pinged over from London.

They hope that will change today when Keir Starmer arrives in Brussels.

Downing Street says the prime minister will “set out his pitch for an ambitious UK-EU defence and security partnership” which will “increase co-operation on shared threats” and deliver “growth and security at home”.

Security and defence is being seen as the lowest hanging fruit, an area where the reset can deliver early results.

It was a theme largely skipped over in the Brexit deal in the rush to get an agreement over the line and because of scepticism from the then Conservative government that Brexit Britain should align its diplomacy too closely to the EU.

In reality, the war in Ukraine and other developments in global affairs necessitated the UK and EU working together. Sanctions against Russia, for example, have been closely co-ordinated.

Both sides hope that a defence agreement could streamline that co-operation and improve security and intelligence sharing.

Faced with a new reality of war on Europe’s border, EU leaders have set aside the day, before Starmer joins them, to try and hammer out what they want to achieve together in security and defence.

At the heart of the discussion is the idea to pool defence resources. The EU wants to create a €500 billion defence fund to bolster European protection and become more self-reliant. But member states are still arguing over how it will be financed and exactly who will benefit.

Whilst France has argued that EU money should be used for EU industry, the British defence industry wants a slice of the cash.

German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, this morning promised that “we will work together between Great Britain and the European defence industry. It’s about economies of scale”.

“Companies must be freed from all the legal rules that hinder their co-operation,” he added.

Despite Brexit, experts say the European defence industry is closely entwined. And that is helping the Brits win the argument.

Excluding Britain (and other allies) from EU defence contracts would be an act of “self-harm”, warned Nato’s chief Mark Rutte, last month. It would “increase costs, complicate production and hamper innovation”.

But it is an awkward day for Keir Starmer to be seen to be cosying up to the Europeans.

Overnight, President Trump doubled down on his promise to impose trade tariffs on the European Union.

“I love Europe, but they [the EU] treat the United States very, very badly”, Trump told the World Economic Forum in January.

Last night the president was ambiguous about whether the UK will be tarnished with the same brush.

“We’ll see how things work out. It might happen with them, but it will definitely happen with the European Union, I can tell you that.”

Today’s meeting between the EU and UK has been long-planned, but to Trump it might appear like Starmer has rushed to Europe’s side.

After Trump imposed tariffs on Canada over the weekend, one of Prime Minister Trudeau’s first phone calls was to the EU.

European Council President António Costa and Trudeau expressed a “determination to continue to work together”, according to an EU source, suggesting that the EU may coordinate its retaliation with Canada if Trump goes ahead with tariffs on the European Union.

Whilst wanting to repair Brexit bridges, Keir Starmer will want to try to steer well clear of Trump’s wrath.