MPs say Starmer’s UK-EU reset lacks ‘direction, definition and drive’
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<p>Foreign affairs committee report finds summit improved political relationship but efforts lack ‘strategic priorities’</p><p>Keir Starmer’s efforts to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU are lacking in “direction, definition and drive”, parliament’s foreign affairs committee has said.</p><p>A report based on months of expert witness testimony found the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/may/19/keir-starmer-uk-eu-reset-deal-win-win">summit
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MPs say Starmer’s UK-EU reset lacks ‘direction, definition and drive’ Foreign affairs committee report finds summit improved political relationship but efforts lack ‘strategic priorities’ Keir Starmer’s efforts to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU are lacking in “direction, definition and drive”, parliament’s foreign affairs committee has said. A report based on months of expert witness testimony found the summit between the UK and the EU at Lancaster House last May had “substantially improved the overall political relationship” after years of Brussels-bashing by the Conservatives. But it concluded the UK “lacks clear strategic priorities”, which in turn results in “the appearance that the EU has achieved more concrete progress towards their most pressing demands than the UK”. Emily Thornberry, Labour MP and chair of the committee, said: “Sadly, we found that despite progress in some areas, the government’s reset is languishing, suffering from a lack of direction, definition and drive. It feels as though we are on a journey with no clear destination. “In many areas, the government has failed to provide timelines, milestones or priorities, and it does not appear to have an ambitious, strategic vision for the UK’s new relationship with the EU.” The report said that unless the government provides a structure and clear vision with goals, it will repeat “these mistakes” when it enters the second set of negotiations after a second bilateral summit due to be held in early July. Last May’s summit was hailed as a “historic” moment and resulted in a formal agreement to improve the Brexit deal sealed by Boris Johnson’s government, with goals including a youth mobility scheme, rejoining the Erasmus student programme and an agriculture agreement to reduce barriers for food exporters. So far all that has been announced is a deal on Erasmus, with several key areas including the regulation of chemicals, conformity of standards, mutual recognition of professional qualification...
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