Starmer to attend EU leaders’ meeting as European ‘reset’ continues

Sir Keir Starmer will become the first Prime Minister since Brexit to attend a meeting of EU leaders as he continues efforts to reset relations with the bloc.

The Prime Minister will travel to Belgium in February after an invitation from European Council president Antonio Costa on Thursday.

Downing Street said the Prime Minister was “pleased to accept the invitation and looked forward to discussing enhanced strategic cooperation with the EU, notably on defence”.

The invitation follows months of diplomacy as the Government pursues a policy of “resetting” relations with the EU after the acrimony of Brexit, seeking a better trading and security partnership.

Senior ministers have made several visits to meetings of their European counterparts, with Rachel Reeves becoming the first Chancellor since Brexit to attend a meeting of EU finance ministers on Monday and David Lammy attending a meeting of foreign ministers earlier in the year.

But Labour has also been adamant that this reset will not involve joining the EU single market or customs union, or returning to freedom of movement, despite pressure to introduce a youth mobility scheme – something he has so far said he has “no plans” to do.

The invitation to the “informal” meeting of EU leaders came after a meeting between Sir Keir and Mr Costa in Downing Street on Thursday, where the pair discussed the post-Brexit relationship along with other global issues including the situation in Syria and the war in Ukraine.

At the start of the meeting, Mr Costa described the UK and the EU as “neighbours, friends, allies” and stressed the importance of improving relations “in these very challenging moments”.

Downing Street said the two men also looked ahead to the EU-UK summit in early 2025, adding it would “provide an important opportunity to make further progress on key areas to deliver tangible benefits for the people of the UK and the EU”.